Ghosts From The Past, Shadows Of The Future
by Aranae
Summary: SEQUEL. After discovering some truths about her past, Lilah and Vincent meet a strange girl that claims to come from the future. Will they be able to stop Phoenix before it's too late? Vincent x OC
1. Just Another Try

**Note**: I know no one asked for it, but I was about to write another OC X Vincent story, and I felt like he was cheating on Lilah. LOL! That's why I decided to make this sequel. This story takes place a few months after "The Rise of the Phoenix", so please read that one before starting with this fic, or you probably won't understand a thing!!

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own Final Fantasy VII characters, though I wish I'd do! Only Lilah Phoenix, Murdoch, Ives von Gorge, Paige, and Dr. Patrick Gavin are my creations.

* * *

**Just Another T****ry**

Lilah ran as fast as she could. She was so tired, and there seemed to be no way out from there. Two sahagins stood in her way, but she slashed them right away with her swords. The underground city of Deepground was almost like a labyrinth in her eyes, and it seemed that she had passed by the same place two or three times already. Lilah laid against a wall to take a break, and cleaned her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps coming her way. Lilah hid behind a pillar, and jump out, swords in hands, only when she heard the footsteps stop right next to her. She found herself in front of a familiar large, black, horned creature. Galian Beast stepped back immediately.

"Damn it, you scared me!" She shouted, sighed, and put her swords at her back again. The creature was surrounded by some sort of light and returned to its normal appearance.

"Are you alright? You've been here for hours." Vincent said.

"Thank God you're here… I got lost again… I'm sorry."

"Are you ready to go back?" He asked, and handed her his right hand.

"…Sure." She answered, and took his hand. Vincent led her through a series of corridors and rooms, until they reached a wide area.

"I really wanted to make it this time." She said, and let go of his hand. Vincent stopped, and turned to her. Lilah just looked away. "I don't know how I can become a good instructor for the WRO if I can't even pass the training".

"Come here." He said, and held her close. She just pressed her face against his chest. Somehow, being close to Vincent soothed her.

"It's like I can't concentrate in anything lately." She muttered.

Vincent wasn't sure of what he was supposed to do in these kinds of situations; making someone feel better was not one of his specialties. Although they have been sharing an apartment for almost four months, sometimes Lilah was a complete mystery for him. He just held her a little bit tighter. Fortunately, this was enough to calm her down.

"Let's go." He finally said, and pressed a button hidden in a wall. The room faded almost instantly, and they found themselves in a large, empty room with its wall covered in iron. It was part of the new WRO Training Facilities.

Lilah took a deep breath, and walk out of the room. Vincent followed her.

"I'm sorry, Reeve… I promise it won't happen again." She said to Reeve, who was waiting for the couple to return from the training room.

"Lilah, I think you need some time off." He said.

"What?... No! I'm fine. I think I just need to try harder…"

"Reeve is right." Vincent said, laying his hand over her shoulder. "You are not in the condition to repeat the test. At least not now."

"… But I… Ok..." She said, looking down.

"You know I think you'll be a great instructor, but I need you to be in a better condition… I don't know what's going on with you these days, but I'm concerned." Reeve explained. "You can take a week or two to rest... consider it as a holiday." Lilah just nodded, and left the place.

It was almost 10 PM. Lilah picked her bag up, and walked out of the building towards the Shadowfox. She got in, and waited for Vincent. They usually spent most part of the day in WRO headquarters, helping new soldiers in their training, or going in short missions abroad, so Reeve sent the Shadowfox almost everyday to pick them up in the apartment, and to take them home at night.

She had been trying so hard, but her nightmares have been happening more often than before; the same dream that she had had for the last twenty years was repeating almost every night. Sometimes she preferred not to sleep at all. In that way her mental state was more stable, but she was growing weaker everyday.

Lilah was sitting in the back of the truck when Vincent got in. He gave her a concerned frown, and sat next to her. Lilah just laid against him as the vehicle started moving.

The trip to Edge was silent and quiet. Once they were back in the apartment, Lilah walked directly to the bedroom. Vincent walked into the bedroom too, and found Lilah sitting in the edge of the bed, crying. He crouched in front of her, and let her hug him.

"It's not your fault, Lilah."

"I know… but I can't take it anymore… I can't think clearly… I…"

"You need some sleep."

"I can't!"

"But you have to." He said, and held her face with his hands. He cleaned her tears away, and kissed her forehead, and then her lips.

"I can try… but we both know how this is gonna end…"

Lilah took a shower, and went directly to bed. In fact, she fell asleep almost immediately. Vincent was glad she finally seemed to be resting, although it didn't last for more than a couple of hours. As it had happened almost every night, she started to shake, and breathe heavily. He woke her up before she started to scream. Lilah held onto him as soon as she woke up.

"… It's like dying every night. I even started to hear voices, and to see meaningless images. The other day I dreamt about chocobos, talking chocobos! Can you believe it?" She muttered.

"I can't take watching you suffer like this… I have to do something."

"You can't do anything to end with my nightmares, Vincent… Unless you're planning to kill me to end my suffering." She said, chuckling, even when her eyes were filled with tears again. Vincent raised his eyebrow, surprised that she could keep her strange sense of humor even in a moment like that. He shouldn't be surprised: Lilah was always like that.

"I'm serious… I think I may know a way to end this."

"I've spent the worst nights of my life for weeks, and now you tell me you know how to stop this!" She shouted, and sat in the bed.

"Please… calm down". He said with his usual and impassive voice.

"… Sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's OK."

"No! It's not! Look at me! I feel like I'm going to go insane at any minute."

"I think that..." He said, quite slowly, as he sat next to her. "Maybe you need to find out about your past."

"What?" She asked, quite surprised.

"Maybe you need to know who you were, where you used to live... about your family."

"You are my only family, Vincent. You, Tifa, Cloud, and the others are the only family I've ever had."

"These nightmares must mean something, Lilah. I just want to help you."

"…You may be right." She said after a couple of seconds of silence. "But it's impossible... I mean, everything happened so long ago that even if I had some relatives or friends back then, they are probably dead now."

"I think we should try." He said, and took her hand. Lilah looked at him, and smiled lightly.

"Thank you... for being here for me." She said. He gave her half a smile, but it faded away when he remembered what he had to do then. No... She had just calmed down. To give her that kind of information would only upset her again.

"I promise I'm going to help you. But, like I said earlier, you need to rest." Lilah nodded, and they got back to bed.

It seemed that Vincent's solution for her problem was already having effect, because, after a couple of long weeks, she was finally able to sleep tight. That made her awake with an unusual good mood. She wanted to start investigating immediately. Now there was no way out; he had to do it right then.

"I know you will probably get mad at me after seeing this, but I wouldn't show it to you if it wasn't extremely necessary." He said, holding a picture in his hands.

"What are you talking about?" she said, while checking on her bag, and her swords.

"I know where we have to start investigating." Vincent handed her the picture.

"What?" She looked at the picture in her hands, and her characteristic smile faded almost immediately. There she was, staring at her own picture… a picture that seemed to have been taken more than twenty years ago. "Vincent… where did you get this?"

* * *

**No one has died as a consequence of reviewing... so, what are you waiting for??? **


	2. Secrets Unveiled

**Secrets Unveiled**

Lilah let herself fall on the couch. She couldn't stop looking at the picture.

"Vincent… Answer me! Where did you get this?"

"Reeve and Tifa managed to get me to investigate the Phoenix Project... I eventually discovered it was you."

"Where did you get this!?" She stood up, and faced him. Vincent kept eye contact with her the whole time.

"At the Chocobo Farm."

"I can't believe you actually kept this secret from me!" She yelled at him.

"… I'm sorry."

"You knew who I was all this time! When did you find out?"

"Some time before Von Gorge's death." Lilah looked the other side of the picture and read the name 'Alina' there. She sat on the couch again, and spent about five minutes looking at the picture. Vincent started to feel uneasy about the situation, and paced around the room several times.

The place had change very much since Lilah lived there. They still had the same couch, table, and chairs, but now there were two coffee tables, an armchair, a small shelf with old books, and a mid-size television too. All the cardboard boxes were gone.

"I knew you wanted to start a new life here as much as I did… that was the reason why I didn't tell you about this before." Vincent explained as he sat down next to her, but she didn't answer. "Please... talk to me... at least tell me that you hate me."

"Don't be silly, Vincent... I don't hate you." She finally said, and their eyes met once again. "You know I love you." She gently touched his face. "You were right... If this wasn't necessary, I'd rather not to know it... But, after I saw this picture I realized this is the answer... I'm not mad at you... I'm just a little shocked."

"I understand."

"So… what else should I know?" She said, and sighed.

"You used to live at the Chocobo Farm. Your name was Alina Caine."

"Alina… I guess I like Lilah the better."

"As far as I know, you had no living relatives. I talked with Chole, the girl at the Chocobo Farm. She told me Alina… I mean, you… used to be her mother's best friend. You were taking some chocobos to sell at Costa del Sol the day you died."

"Maybe I should go and talk with the girl's mother."

"She died."

"Oh!... that's just great!"

"She had many pictures of... you and her mother, and seemed to know a lot about you. We can go and talk to her if you want to."

"I don't know… this kinda scares me…" She laid against him, and he cuddle her. "I'm still the same Lilah, right? But now I have a true past."

"Of course. This doesn't change anything about you."

"It still scares me." Lilah left the picture in a coffee table and turned to Vincent. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and made him lay back. She looked at him for a moment. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that… I'm sorry." She whispered. Vincent nodded, and she gave him a quick peck on his lips. He responded to her kiss immediately with a longer a deeper kiss. She closed her eyes and let him lead the way. Her mind started to assimilate the new information, as she felt Vincent's cold hands moving slowly up her back, his kisses on her neck. It was not the first time it happened; his touch and scent seemed to take her away from reality. Suddenly, something came to her mind: she had to stop with her doubts about her past, and her nightmares for once and for all. It seemed so clear to her now. Lilah quickly stood up, took her bag to the bedroom and started to pack, leaving Vincent looking a little bit confused, like he had just woken up from a very pleasant dream.

"What are you waiting for, Vincent?… Let's go to that Chocobo Farm right away!" She shouted as she put a sweater inside her bag. Vincent just sighed and got up from the couch.

* * *

It was about 4pm when the train stopped near the Chocobo Farm. Lilah was feeling somewhat anxious, so she took a deep breath, got a hold of Vincent's hand, and walked towards the farm. 

"Chole has seen some pictures of you, Lilah. Considering the fact that she thinks you are dead, I think it would be reasonable if you stay here while I talk to her." Vincent said once they got near the fence outside the place.

"Ok… I'll wait here."

Lilah leaned against the fence while Vincent entered the stable. She was wondering if knowing more about her past would change her life too much, when some strange images came to her mind. The place suddenly started to look incredibly familiar! The memories were not complete, but she remembered a nice, young, blond woman standing in that very spot, next to her long time ago. It made her feel happy, but nostalgic at the same time.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it..." Someone said behind her. She turned around, and met a blond teenager. She resembled very much to the girl Lilah had just remembered.

"I guess you must be Chole." Lilah said. "I'm Lilah… nice to meet you."

It seemed that Vincent had shortly briefed the girl about what had happened with Lilah, so Lilah didn't have to explain why she was standing in front of her, even though she was supposed to be dead since more than twenty years ago. After some minutes of talking, Chole invited Lilah and Vincent inside the house.

"This is unbelievable! You are just like my Mom used to say… She talked a lot about you." Chole said.

"Chole… uh… Vincent told me that you had pictures… I'd really like to see them. Right now I'm having some difficulties, because I almost don't remember anything about my past… back when I lived here… I'd really appreciate if you could show them to me. They may help me to remember." Lilah asked and explained to the girl.

"Sure. I'll bring them here right away! You can have a seat while I go and get them." Chole said, and then she made haste to the second floor of the house.

Lilah sat down in an armchair. Vincent remained standing next to the door.

"It's amazing being here, Vincent. I've already started to remember a few things! Can you believe it?" Lilah told him, very enthusiastic. He just gave him a half smile, as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Just because I know you so well I know that that little grin counts as a full smile… Valentine style." She smiled at him.

"I'm glad this can help you." He said, in his low, monotone voice. Lilah stood up, and kiss him on his lips. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head against his chest.

"Oh! This explains why Mr. Valentine was so interested in knowing more about your past!" Chole said, while smiling at them. She was carrying the small cardboard box Vincent had seen in his previous visit to the farm.

Lilah, and Chole sat down, as they looked at the pictures together. Once again, Vincent remained standing still next to Lilah.

"There you are… It's amazing how you don't seem a day older!" Chole said. "This was my mother... her name was..."

"Paige!" Lilah exclaimed.

"Yes… her name was Paige. I'm glad you've already started to remember"

Lilah's eyes filled with tears when she looked at the picture of the woman that once had been her best friend, almost like a sister to her. She could remember so little, but it was enough to make her feel like nostalgic once again.

"Is this... Lilah?" Vincent said suddenly. He took one of the pictures, in which there was a couple, and a girl of about ten years old.

"Oh, yes… My mom told me once that this picture was taken on Alina's... I mean, Lilah's 9th birthday. They're her and her parents" Chole answered to him. Vincent kept silent, and Lilah didn't even notice when he left the room. She was too busy looking at her parents for the first time, as far as she could remember.

"What happened to them? Vincent told me I had no living relatives."

"Well… I think they died… I heard that they were killed. They owned some very valuable land, and they opposed selling it to Shinra... It was just a couple of weeks after this picture was taken."

"You mean… Shinra killed them?" Lilah asked her, quite surprised.

"That's what I heard… it may be just a rumor, maybe they were just robbed, and then killed. Anyways, it seems that you survived only because you hid under a bed."

"Wow!... That's terrible! Vincent, what do you think?... Where's Vincent?" Lilah said, looking around.

"I thought I saw him going outside."

"Oh… Thank you very much, Chole. You don't know what this means to me."

"You're welcome… You can have them if you want to."

"Really?"

"Yeah… these were so dear to my mother, but I think she'd be happy if she knew you had them back now."

"Oh! Thank you."

"And you can come back anytime to visit your old home."

Lilah said goodbye to Chole, and walked outside of the building looking for Vincent.

* * *

He remembered very well... It had been his first mission as a turk. He was just twenty years old back then. The couple had been so easy to deceive and kill. He had checked the entire house, and found the girl under the bed… Her blue eyes… He was still not used to killing back then, and he spared her life. She was left there, crying next to her parents corpses. 

"Vincent, look! Chole let me keep the pictures!" Lilah said, as she approached to him. She seemed so happy.

"… Good." He looked at her eyes again.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No… you don't need to worry."

Lilah kiss his cheek, and got a hold of his arm.

"Let's go home, ok?"

Vincent nodded, and started to walk toward the train station, wondering how he would tell Lilah about what he had just found out.


	3. Time

**Time**

Almost a week had passed, and Lilah's mood and health improved very much since she knew more about her past, especially because the nightmares had completely ceased. However, now she had another concern: Vincent. Since their visit to the Chocobo Farm he had been quite reluctant to spend time with her. He was out for the whole day, and he wouldn't return home until he knew Lilah would be already asleep, and that was very late considering that, though Lilah was not longer working for Tifa in the Seventh Heaven, she usually stayed there helping her until the bar was closed. Vincent avoided her questions by saying that he didn't want to talk, or by simply leaving.

In fact, Vincent was having a hard time being around Lilah. He was sure he had been her parents' killer. He remembered like yesterday the way a nine year old Lilah looked at him, with her blue eyes in fear, how she had cried her heart out when she saw her parents dead in the living room of the country house. Even though he was a different man now, he still felt guilty for what Lilah had had to face as a consequence of his acts. If he hadn't done what he was ordered that day, she would have grown up with her parents, and wouldn't have ended up dead in the ship accident with Emerald Weapon. He now had another sin to pay for. It annoyed him even more the fact that Lilah, who totally ignored of this, was as kind and caring as ever with him.

Vincent knew Lilah used to spend Sundays with Tifa, and the rest of the group. He joined them sometimes, but he was definitely not in the mood that day, so he decided to try to clear his mind, and read a good book at home.

Lilah got home around 7pm that evening. She had spent the afternoon with her friends in a park. She entered the apartment, and found Vincent sleeping in the armchair, with a book over his chest. Lilah took the book and left it over the coffee table. Then, she picked up Vincent's cloak, which was in the couch, and covered him with it. She was pretty hungry, so she walked directly to the kitchen, and started to make something for dinner, even though she was definitely not a good cook. Lilah put a bowl of macaroni and cheese in the microwave, and walked towards the bedroom to put her pajamas on. Vincent heard the microwave beep, and realized he was not alone in the apartment. He put his cloak aside, and sat straight. Once again, like it had been happening since a few months ago, he had a headache.

"Hey…" Lilah said from the corridor.

"Hi."

"Are you hungry?"

"No..." He answered, but his stomach growled. Lilah gave him a small grin of disapproval.

"What's gotten into you lately?" She asked.

"Nothing… Everything's fine."

"You are a terrible liar."

"… I said everything's fine!" He said, and entered the bathroom, leaving the door opened. Lilah followed and found him standing in front of the sink, washing his face.

"Did I do something wrong for you to treat me this way?" Lilah asked, quite offended.

"Nothing's wrong, Lilah… just leave me alone." He suddenly felt dizzy, and almost fell over her. Lilah walked backwards because of his weight, but managed to help him into the bedroom.

"You ok?" She asked him, while putting her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, once he was sitting on the bed.

"I… don't know…"

"Vincent… you have fever! You better lay down." She said, and put a pillow under his head, while he laid back.

Lilah picked a small towel from the closet, and soaked it in water. Then, she went back to the bedroom, sat on the bed, and put over Vincent's forehead.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, and laid his head over her lap.

"What are you talking about? What are you sorry for?" She asked, confused.

"For everything."

"It's ok… You are just a little sick… it's not a big deal!... I'll take care of you."

"I've done terrible things in my life."

Lilah move his bangs away from his face, and smiled at him.

"I learned that if you regret too much for the things you've done in the past, you are denying your own present. Aren't you happy with what we have now?"

"…Maybe you're right."

"Now, you should rest; leave the deep thinking for another day… I'll get you some food, ok?"

Vincent nodded, and held the wet towel against his forehead.

* * *

Next morning Lilah woke up Vincent about 10 am.

"Get up, sleepy head… you have an appointment with Dr. Gavin at headquarters."

"What?"

"What you heard… I called him an hour ago. I told him you were not feeling well, and he said he was going to see you right away. So get up now… The Shadowfox will be here in a few minutes."

Vincent was not happy with the idea of seeing a doctor, but Lilah managed to convince him. An hour after that, they were at the WRO headquarters.

Dr. Gavin examined Vincent and ordered some test to be done, and the results were ready that very afternoon.

Lilah accompanied Vincent in the waiting room for a few minutes, while they were waiting for the results.

"Oh! I forgot that Tifa asked me to stay in the bar for a while today! Did you bring your cell phone? I left mine at home. I need to call her right away to tell her I'll be late." Lilah said. Vincent shook his head no. He was still a little bit irritable from being injected, and tested. Those kinds of things used to bring him bad memories.

"I'll be right back!" Lilah made haste to find a public phone. Luckily, she met Yuffie in the corridor, who was carrying her own cell phone.

After talking with Tifa, and explaining the whole situation to her and to Yuffie, she went back to the waiting room. She had left the door opened, so before entering she heard Vincent's, and Dr. Gavin's voices inside. Lilah knew she was not supposed to eavesdrop on conversations, but she couldn't help it.

"This has to be a mistake… It is impossible." Vincent said.

"I'm sorry… Maybe the Chaos gene somehow repaired the damage suffered during the experiments that Dr. Hojo did. And now that you hold Chaos no more... well… you've started to age again."

Lilah listened to the doctor's words in silence, and didn't notice when some tears started to run on her cheeks. Vincent was mortal again. The mere thought of seeing Vincent die someday saddened her very much. She felt like breaking into the room and pleading the doctor to tell her that it was just a joke... or a mistake, but somehow she knew it was true.

"Is everything ok, Lilah?" asked Yuffie, who was walking towards her.

Lilah cleaned her face quickly, so her friend couldn't notice her tears.

"Yuffie… please, tell Vincent I needed to go and see Tifa, ok? I've gotta go."

"But…"

"Bye!"

Tifa was surprised to see Lilah walk into the bar. But what surprised her the most was the fact that she was crying.

"Lilah… is there something wrong?" She asked, But her friend didn't answered. Her eyes glowed bright green, and then she fainted.


	4. Mystified

**Mystified**

Reno took a sip of his beer, as he looked at his cards again. Even though he had been looking at the reflection of Rude's cards in his glasses, he was losing.

"_I can't lose my payment in gambling… again_." he thought, as he wished for something to happen to prevent him from losing all of his money. In that moment, Tifa came closer with another jar of beer.

"Here you go, boys." She said, as she placed the jar in the table. "And, Rude… you should take your glasses off while playing cards… you don't want Reno to cheat, right?"

Rude look at her, surprised, and took his glasses off, and shot an angry look at Reno, who smirked cockily.

As Tifa was cleaning another table, Reno saw Lilah entering the bar, quite heated.

"Lilah… is there something wrong?" Tifa asked, but Lilah lost consciousness, and fell to the floor.

Reno and his partner made haste to see what had happened to the girl, but not before Reno 'accidentally' kicked the table upside down, and of course, cleaning all evidence that he had been about to lose all his money to his friend.

Lilah opened her eyes again. They were glowing bright green, and her body started to shake heavily.

"No one will take him away from me!!" She shouted.

"Calm down, Lilah… please!" Tifa said, while trying to hold her down.

"I won't have it!!" She shouted again. Reno tried to help Tifa, but Lilah, with an amazing strength pushed him aside, and made him crash against a wall.

"What's gotten into her??" He asked, looking confused, and then stood up.

"This is not Lilah." Tifa said. "Phoenix… Go away… Leave Lilah alone."

"No!... I must do something!" She answered.

"Lilah, please… don't let Phoenix gain control!" Tifa pleaded.

Lilah screamed once again, and fainted.

Reno and Rude took Lilah to another room, and then went back to the bar, while Tifa looked after her friend.

Two whole hours past, and Lilah was still unconscious. Tifa had dialed Vincent cell phone's number several times, but there was no answer. She was going to give another try, when Lilah finally woke up.

"Hey! Take it easy!" She said, when she noticed her friend was trying to get up.

"Tifa…" Lilah muttered, and she started to cry.

She explained to Tifa as clear as she could Vincent's current situation.

"I know I should be happy for him… He had always considered his immortality as a curse… but I can't bear the fact that someday I'm going to lose him… That I'll see him die... I just can't!"

"Maybe you misunderstood something." Tifa said, trying to calm her down.

"No!… I know what I heard… I don't know what to do."

"You should go back home, Lilah, and talk to him… I'm sure this is not easy for him either!"

"You're probably right…"

"Come on… Rest some more, and then we'll ask Reno to walk you home, ok?"

Lilah nodded, and Tifa walked back to the bar.

An hour after that, Lilah and Reno were walking down the street towards Vincent's apartment.

* * *

Vincent was still a little bit shocked for the information Dr. Gavin had given him. He was not expecting something like this to happen. But, somehow, he felt relieved, as if his sins had been finally redeemed and forgotten. After walking for the streets of Edge for some hours, he entered his apartment, and sat in the armchair. The only concern in his mind was how Lilah would react when she knew he was now just a mortal man. Maybe she already knew, maybe that was the reason why she left headquarters without saying goodbye. Anyway, he decided not to mention his new condition to her, at least for now.

About thirty minutes after, he heard some keys at the main door. Lilah entered the apartment, and her eyes widened when she noticed him sitting there.

"… Sorry I left like that earlier." She muttered, hiding her face from his view.

"Don't worry" He said, and stood up. "Are you alright?" Vincent asked when he noticed something strange about her.

"Everything's ok." She said, and tried to pass him by, but he quickly grabbed her shoulder to stop her. Lilah felt a tear running down her check, and once again, went blank.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, Vincent… I'm feeling perfectly well." He heard her say, and then she suddenly kissed him, pushing him backwards towards a wall. He was surprised by her behavior, but there was no doubt that he liked when she did these kind of things. Lilah ripped off the two first buttons of his shirt, and started to kiss him down his neck. Vincent was surely enjoying this, however, he felt like something was not right. She made her way back to his mouth, as she started to undo his belt. That was when he noticed a strange green glow in her eyes.

"Look at me!" He said, as he grabbed her by her shoulders again. She started to laugh, and the glow in her eyes became more intense. Vincent knew that was definitely not Lilah.

"Come on, Vincent… let's have some fun."

"What are you doing, Phoenix?"

"Taking what is mine." She whispered near his ear. This time Vincent pushed her against the wall, and grabbed her wrists above her head.

"Why are you here? What are you doing to Lilah?" Vincent practically ordered her to answer, but she just laughed once again.

"Why do you want Lilah when you can have me?" She said, and gave him a nasty grin.

"Lilah… come back!"

"I think our Lilah is having a hard time trying to come back, sweetie. Maybe I should stay here forever... that would be fun!"

"Lilah! I know you're there… Come back! You are stronger!"

Her eyes slowly returned back to normal, Vincent released her hands and caught her before she fell to the floor. He quickly took her in his arms, and left her in the couch.

"…I don't want to lose you." She muttered.

"You are not losing me, Lilah…"

"I love you, Vincent… I don't want you to die." She said, and leaned against his chest, crying. Vincent realized Lilah already knew everything.

"This… This doesn't have to change anything."

"But it does! You don't know how I feel… to know that you are going to leave me here… alone again."

"That's not true." Vincent looked at her eyes and wiped her tears away. "That was exactly how I felt when I fell in love with you, when I didn't know you were… like me."

"I'm not like you!… I should have left when I had the opportunity, you should have let me go that day…"

"… Don't say that… You sound just like me some time ago... Last night you asked me if I was happy with what we have now... Well, I am."

"Vincent…" Lilah stopped sobbing. She knew it was very hard for him to tell those kind of things to her, and when he did, he really mean it.

"And I would renounce my mortality if that would keep me by your side, Lilah… but I can't… So, please… don't make this harder."

Lilah kissed him, and cleaned her tears from her face. Then, she gave him a small smile.

"What happened to your shirt?" She asked, noticing some of the buttons were gone, and part of the cloth was thorn.

"Phoenix was… out of control for a while…"

"Did she attack you?" Lilah asked concerned.

"Not exactly…"

* * *

A couple of hours after, a girl dressed in black was walking outside that very apartment building. She seemed to be about 15 years old, her eyes were blue, and her hair was black, shoulder length, and straight, though quite messy. She sighed, and made her way inside the building, thinking if what she was about to do would really fix the problem. All she had to do was to wait for Yuffie to arrive. She walked up and down the third floor hallway a hundred times, until someone opened the door of one of the apartments, and a slightly dark cloud of smoke came from inside. Lilah left the door wide opened, as she opened all of the windows in the apartment.

"Everything's ok, Vincent… But I think we'll have to order some food again." She shouted.

The girl stood still looking at her. Obviously, Lilah noticed her standing in the corridor.

"Hi… er… can I help you?" Lilah said, but the teenager didn't answer. She just stood there looking at her.

"You ok?" Lilah asked again.

"… Sure… I'm waiting for Yuffie." She said coming out of her astonishment.

"Yuffie doesn't live in here… oh! wait a sec." Lilah entered the apartment again. "Vincent, is Yuffie coming today?"

"Yes. I forgot to tell you, she must be about to arrive." Vincent answered from inside the apartment.

"Well, it seems she's coming. Are you a friend of hers?" Lilah asked the girl, while walking towards her.

"… Well… kind of…"

"You are not very talkative, are you?" Lilah smiled at her. "My name is Lilah. Vincent and I, well, we live here… we are friends of Yuffie. Do you want to wait for her inside?"

"That's not necessary."

"Oh, come on! It's cold out here."

The girl knew that she was putting her whole mission in risk, but she couldn't help it, and followed Lilah inside the apartment.

"It's quite smelly here…I was making some dinner, but I guess something went wrong. Sit down. Yuffie must be almost here." Lilah said. The girl was a little shaky... She had already forgotten how Lilah looked, and her presence was making her nervous. "What's your name?"

"… Riley."

"Well, Riley… nice to meet you."

In that moment Vincent came out of the bathroom, his hair completely soaked, and walked into the kitchen, not before giving an unfriendly look to the girl, who was now sitting on the couch. Lilah followed him.

"Who's she?" He asked, leaning against a counter.

"Yuffie's friend, she's waiting for her." Lilah answered, and arranged some bangs that were covering part of Vincent's face. He took her by her waist, and pulled her close, looking directly into her eyes

"What?" She asked, smiling.

"You burned the dinner again." He said, pretending to be angry.

"… You know I suck at cooking. And just because you love me so much, you are going to call for a pizza, right?"

"… Alright." He said, after a couple of seconds. "But I will demand some sort of …compensation for this... maybe tonight."

"You bet you'll get your... compensation." Lilah gave her a mischievous look, and came back to the living room. He followed immediately. She took Vincent's cell phone from a coffee table, and gave it to him. "There you go… I want mushrooms and olives."

Vincent started to dial a number, and walked into the bedroom. In that very moment, someone knocked at the door.

"It's me... Yuffie!" She heard someone said from the other side.

Lilah was going to open the door, but Riley quickly jumped from her seat, and walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.

"Hey! Watch out!... Who are you?" Yuffie said when Riley accidentally ran at her.

"I'm sorry… I… I need your help." She said, quite nervous. She searched in one of her pockets, and then handed Yuffie a jade amulet in the form of a star. "You said that if I showed you this you would surely help me."

Yuffie took the amulet, very confused.

"Where did you get this?" Yuffie asked her, raising her voice. "This was my mother's!"

"You gave it to me before I travelled here... I know it sounds crazy but... I... I come from the future." She explained, keeping her eyes fixed in the amulet, scared of looking into the eyes of the younger version of her trainer and friend.

"What?... Who are you?" Yuffie asked her, surprised.

"My name is Riley Valentine."

* * *

**A/N: **I know it took me forever to update this story, but I've been quite bussy lately, and I don't have internet at home anymore, so please be patient... and review!!! 


	5. Quest

**A/N: **Vinaya Yadavalli it is not my creation, and I don't own her. She appears thanks to my friend Live4Dance88. She made her up, and she allowed me to put her in this story. Thankies, cookies, and all that kind of stuff for her!

* * *

**Quest**

"What?!... You are kidding me, right?" Yuffie said nervously. Riley looked at her and sighed. "You can't have my mom's amulet 'cause I have it right here!" Yuffie said, and picked out from her pocket the same green amulet Riley was showing her.

"Look at this... it has the same marks you left on it when you drop it... you were seven back then, am I right?" Riley showed Yuffie the back of the amulet she was holding, and she compared both of them. They looked exactly the same.

"This must be a trick! You… I mean… Time travelling is impossible!"

"So, how do you explain this?" Riley said, holding the amulet.

"...Riley Valentine? You are supposed to be Vincent's relative or something?" Yuffie asked, quite skeptical.

"Hey! This is serious! I really need your help… something bad is going to happen in a few years... Shelke discovered this is the right moment to change that... to prevent it from happening. I need to save Lilah… she's… my mother."

"So you are Vincent, and Lilah's daughter??!" Yuffie shouted.

"Lower your voice! If something goes wrong, my mission would not only fail, but I can also disappear... never been born, you understand?" She knew that was not true. She had calculated every step of her trip and, as far as she knew, it was absolutely safe. She told Yuffie that only to keep her from telling anyone about her true identity.

"Sorry." Yuffie whispered. She looked at Riley's face one more time. The girl looked very much like Vincent: she had almost all of his features, except for her eyes, that were larger, and blue, like Lilah's. "If this is true…"

"Of course it is true!… are you going to help me? You are the only person I can trust."

"I don't know… this sounds so unbelievable."

"Ok… if you don't want to help me I'll do this on my own… please, do not interfere."

In that moment, Lilah came out of the apartment, pretty confused.

"Is there any problem?" She asked.

"No!.. Not at all." Yuffie said. "We're going in right away."

Riley stared at Lilah again, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable, so Lilah went back into the apartment right away.

"I'm not telling you that I'm not going to help you… what is so terrible that you are supposed to prevent?"

"You are aware that my… that Lilah holds the creature Phoenix, right?"

"Yeah." Yuffie said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well… Phoenix will start, and I bet she already started to long for her life... She will become powerful, and unstoppable. In the place where I come from, Phoenix caused great destruction and pain... we have to get rid of her now."

"You are not talking about killing your… own mother, are you?" Yuffie whispered.

"Of course not! That would prevent my own birth, and would cause I don't know what kind of temporal, and spatial… I don't know what!"

"So?"

"We met a woman in the future; she is able to extract hostile creatures from human bodies... I told Shelke about her, and I decided to travel here and find her, that's what I need you to help me in, we need to find this woman before it's too late."

"I thought Phoenix was not hostile."

"She wasn't, but she suddenly started to take control of my mother's body... she was able to hold her for years after the first time Phoenix went out of control... but she was not strong enough..."

"What happened?"

"I was five years old..." Riley started to explain. "She destroyed a great part of Edge, and other cities when she realized she could not have my mother's life... Then, all of you... AVALANCHE had to stop her."

"That's horrible!"

"Nothing was the same again after that. My father kept leaving me with Tifa or with you, and going on missions abroad, for the WRO…. Pointless missions that lasted for months… Sometimes years. He said I reminded him of the way he failed to protect his family…" Riley's expression suddenly became sad. "Other people I loved also died then... If we succeed, I will not only return to a different future, but all of you won't have to go through all that. Understand?"

"…Yeah… But this is so confusing…"

"Can I count on you?"

"…Sure."

* * *

It was 10am. Vincent and Lilah were on the Shadowfox on their way to the WRO headquarters. He didn't know why Reeve seemed so interested in meeting with Lilah; she had recently passed the training to be an instructor, so this should be about something else. The only reason why he was there was because Lilah had asked him to go with her. 

She suddenly came close to him, and placed herself under his cloak.

"Is everything ok?" He asked her, as he wrapped one of his arms around her.

"Yes… It's just a little cold here." She answered. Then, she laid her head on his shoulder, and stayed like that for the rest of the short trip.

When they were finally at headquarters, they went straight to the meeting room. Vincent was very surprised to see that Yuffie and her friend Riley were also there. As soon as they were inside the room, Reeve called Lilah to his office.

"Lilah… I'm counting on the fact that you are going to be completely honest with me..." He said when they were sitting in his office.

"Sure… I don't know why you think I wouldn't." Lilah said, confused.

"Well, I'll go straight to the point… It's about Phoenix… Have you had any trouble controlling her lately?"

Lilah looked at him, her eyes wide open.

"I need you to tell me the truth… it is very important." He said.

"I… A lot of things had happened to me lately… I lost control a couple of times this week…" Lilah explained. Reeve just laid back in his seat, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know about Vincent's current condition… and I guess you understand how hard it is for me... I think that's the reason why I've been that unstable."

"We think that Phoenix may become… somehow… dangerous." He said, trying not to sound threatening.

"… It's the first time it happens." She said.

"But you can't guarantee that it won't happen again, can you?"

She didn't answer.

"I have evidence, Lilah… Phoenix WILL become a threat."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't give you any more details right now… Just trust me."

Lilah nodded. Reeve had proven to be someone she could trust, so she didn't ask any more questions.

"There's one person that can help you… Her name is Vinaya Yadavalli… She lives in here in Edge."

"Help me? But, how? I don't know if I could keep on living without Phoenix... maybe she is the reason why I'm alive."

"Well… Vincent is doing very well without Chaos; I don't know why you wouldn't do the same."

Lilah's eyes suddenly lighten.

"So maybe I..."

"Don't cheer that much only because of the possibility of aging... We only know that the experiments Gast made on you were based on the Chaos project. Yours could have been different."

"And what if I die if Phoenix leaves my body?"

"I don't think she would take that risk." He thought in loud voice.

"She? You mean Phoenix, right?"

Reeve realized he was giving too much confidential information, stood up, and walked up and down his office.

"… Sure. Now I need you, and Vincent to go, and look for that woman. I was told she lives in a new neighborhood towards the east exit of Edge." Lilah nodded, still confused. "Good luck."

In that moment, the door was suddenly opened by a very angry Vincent. He was dragging Riley by the hood of her sweater.

"Reeve… I need you to tell me who this girl is, and why she is here... I want the truth... now!!"


	6. Revelation

**Revelation**

"Let me go!!" Riley shouted.

Since the moment Vincent first saw her, he knew there was something strange about the girl, and the fact that she was carrying a sword that looked exactly like Lilah's was too suspicious.

"Vincent! What are you doing?!" Lilah asked him, surprised, and made him let go of Riley.

"Reeve… you are hiding something, I know!" Vincent said, walking threateningly towards him.

"What are you talking about?" Reeve asked, nonchalantly.

"I'm talking about this girl… I know she's not telling the truth, and you know it!" Vincent said, getting a strong hold of Riley's arm.

"Vincent, stop it! Look at her, she's just a child!" Lilah said. Riley broke out of Vincent's hold again, and took shelter behind Lilah.

"Lilah… wait for me outside!" Vincent almost ordered her.

"What?!" She exclaimed, surprised of his behavior.

"I said… wait for me outside!" He said slowly, getting extremely angry.

"Who do you think I am?! You have no right to talk to me like that!" She said, pointing at him.

"Please, calm down... everyone." Reeve said, when he noticed Riley was almost in tears.

"I… I can explain everything!" Riley said, nervously.

"What is going on here? And why are you acting as if you were crazy?" Lilah asked Vincent.

"This girl… she is carrying something that… well, something suspicious." He said.

"What??" Lilah said, grinning. She was totally confused.

"I think Vincent is right… you should wait outside." Reeve suddenly said.

"No way! I wanna know exactly what's going on here." Lilah said, firmly.

"I… have this." Riley said, showing Lilah the sword she was carrying by her side. Lilah couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. The sword the girl had looked exactly like one of her own scimitars, except for the materias that were attached to it.

"It's impossible!" Lilah exclaimed, as she examined the sword carefully.

"The reason why Riley has that weapon is because she... I know it sounds unbelievable, but she proved it to me... She travelled back in time. She brought that sword from the future." Reeve said, as he walked up and down his office.

"That's not possible." Vincent said.

"Time travelling?" Lilah asked.

"That's right." The girl began to explain. "The place where I come from was devastated by Phoenix when I was younger. I came here to change that."

Lilah sat down.

"So, it's true… I'm already losing control over Phoenix… This is so unfair!" She tried to hold her tears but she couldn't. Vincent hid his face behind his collar, and laid back against a wall.

"But don't worry… I came here to help you." Riley said, kneeling next to the chair where Lilah was sitting now, and held one of her hands. "We met Vinaya too late in my time… I'm sure she's going to get rid of Phoenix here… I promise."

Lilah looked at Riley's face. There was something in the way she talked, so convinced of her own words, something that reminded her of Vincent.

"That doesn't explain why you have one of Lilah's swords." Vincent suddenly said.

The truth was that she had stole it from her parents' old apartment, because Vincent was keeping that place exactly how Lilah had left it, and he wouldn't allow her to take her belongings out of place, but she couldn't tell them that, not yet.

"I brought it to prove my precedence." She answered, but she didn't dare to look at him at his eyes. Riley could feel his gaze fixed on her. Since she could remember, she had never been able to lie to him. It was like he could read her perfectly. "I thought the only way I had to prove that I really come from the future was bringing something unique, like Yuffie's amulet, and Lilah's sword." She explained, somehow hesitating.

"… Hmph…" He just said, and then focused on Lilah again, who seemed pretty affected by the whole situation. He walked closer to her, and shot Riley an angry look. The teenager just stepped back, and sat in the other chair in front of the desk.

It was Vincent now who took Lilah's hands and let her hugged him as hard as she could.

Riley couldn't believe how his expression softened around Lilah… It had been years since she hadn't seen him acting like that.

"Lilah… I understand how you may be feeling, but now finding Vinaya Yadavalli is now our main concern." Reeve said. "We can prevent the tragedy if we find her."

In that moment, someone knocked at the door.

"Come in." Reeve said. Next, Yuffie opened the door."

"Oops! Sorry… Everyone else is here now… We're waiting…" She said, quickly.

"Don't worry… We'll be in the meeting room immediately." Reeve told her, and she closed the door again. "Please... I need to brief everyone else about the situation… Let's go to the meeting room."

Lilah stood up immediately, and followed Reeve out of the office. Vincent stayed behind, and approached Riley before she could get out of the room.

"I don't know who you are, and to be honest, I don't care... But... I thank you if your true intentions are to help Lilah." He told the girl, and left the room before she could say a word. Riley just put her mother's sword back in its place, and followed him to the next room.

* * *

Reeve explained the new situation to his friends, in a meeting that lasted at least a couple of hours; the matter was not an easy one.

"So… you come from the future, you say… Why don't you tell us something about it?" Reno asked.

"Shut up, Reno!" Tifa said.

"I can't tell you anything that doesn't concerns the mission… if I make a mistake, or if I unveil too much information I risk changing more things that the ones that I intend to change... It's hard to explain..." Riley said, frowning in a "Valentine" way that made Yuffie contain her laughing.

"He wouldn't understand anyway." Tifa said, and everyone, except Reno, and Vincent laughed.

"But... how do you travelled here... You have some sort of time travelling airship or somethin'?" Cid asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Shelke was able to manipulate a time materia, somehow she made its particles to move faster, and backwards… As long as I keep this special time materia attached, I can stay here all the time needed." Riley explained. "Just… don't tell her about this." She said, when she remembered that she was not supposed to reveal that information. "She needs to discover this in ten years more! Please!"

"Don't worry." Reeve told her.

"You're being careless… You won't be able to succeed if you keep on making mistakes like this." Cloud said.

"Hey! She's trying her best, don't be that hard on her!" Yuffie said.

"It's Ok. We'll all be there to help Riley in her mission. Right, Cloud?" Tifa said, grinning at him.

After a few minutes more of discussion, Reeve organized the group in smaller teams to locate Miss Yadavalli: Cloud and Cid; Yuffie and Riley; Reno, Rude and Cait Sith; Vincent and Lilah. Tifa would stay in the bar to take care of the kids, and Barret was still involved in the oil industry.

During that afternoon they discussed some details, and then they returned to their homes. They would be starting this new and unexpected mission on the next day, so Tifa invited Yuffie, and Riley to spend the night in her place.


	7. Cause and Consequences

**Cause and Consequences**

The place looked completely different from the one she knew. Tifa's Seventh Heaven had sure changed in fifteen years. Riley was sitting at a table in the bar, eating a sandwich Yuffie had made for her. Everything was so familiar and strange at the same time for her. She was taking a sip from the glass of juice she had in front of her when Tifa sat in the chair next to her.

"So… I bet everything is different there... in the future, I mean." She said.

Riley just nodded.

"I haven't heard your last name yet."

"... I can't tell you. That would reveal my parents identity, and... Well..." Riley said, getting nervous.

"You don't have to tell me… You look so alike."

Riley suddenly became pale, which increased her resemblance to her father.

"You have her eyes, though." Tifa continued.

"I… I don't know what you are talking about."

"I don't know how she will be in the future, but here Yuffie is the biggest mouth in the planet." Tifa said, smiling at the girl. Riley just couldn't believe Yuffie had told Tifa her secret. "But don't worry… I do know how to keep a secret."

Riley just sighed, and sat back. She hoped she could trust Tifa more than Yuffie.

"I'm kinda scared of all this… I don't even know if it is going to work or not!"

"It's going to work, I'm sure." Tifa said, enthusiastically.

"I hope so." Riley said, smiling back at Tifa.

"Has anyone ever told you how much you look like Vincent?"

"Yeah…"

"Now that I know you are their daughter, it seems so obvious!"

"It was so weird to see her again... I had almost forgotten how beautiful she was... I mean, she is."

Tifa gave her a sad smile.

"It must have been tough for you... growing up without your mother and all."

Riley nodded once again.

"But all of you were there for me... just like now! And I was only five when she died. She just disappeared of my life, though I was told I cried like for weeks after her death… But I don't remember. I think it was harder for my father. I mean… I see him now and I can tell the difference. The Vincent I knew was way darker."

"... Poor Vincent! But... there's something I've had in my mind since I met you this morning… Why you? I mean… please, don't be offended, but... you are only a kid... why are you in charge of such difficult mission?"

Riley had been waiting for someone to ask her about that.

"Please… don't get mad at me… I did it because I love my father… and I love all of you! I realize that everyone's suffering started when Phoenix went out of control... My mother's death, my father's pain, the people who died when she attacked Edge, Cloud's disappearance… Everything!"

"What are you talking about? Cloud's missing in the future?" Tifa asked her, pretty concerned.

"I told all of you that you had to fight Phoenix to stop her, right? Well, after that battle, Cloud was nowhere to be found… I shouldn't have told you this, but... Please, don't tell anyone!"

"This is not a real mission… You came here on your own!" Tifa suddenly realized the truth about Riley's trip.

"Yes… I did… and I don't regret that! I swore to myself I would fix everything the day I stole this time materia from Shelke. I… I want my family back!" Riley had been a strong girl until then. She had faced her parents and all the people that she considered her family almost like a grown up, but she couldn't keep all her feelings trapped inside anymore and started to cry.

Tifa was willing to complain. She was definitely mad because Riley had put in motion a whole operation based in lies. But somehow, she understood. She didn't want to lose her family either, especially Cloud.

"It's ok." Tifa said, as she put her right hand over Riley's forearm. "But… do you understand how risky this is? I mean, if you make another mistake you put your own life in the line."

"No…" Riley said after sobbing a few times. She cleaned her tears out of her face and continued talking. "I was very careful in choosing the day I would arrive here. About seven months before my birth."

* * *

It was 6 am. Vincent woke up only to find Lilah had already got up. He made his way towards the kitchen, then the living room, but Lilah was nowhere to be found. 

"Lilah… are you in there?" Vincent said after knocking the door of the bathroom.

"Errr… yeah." She answered. She sounded quite troubled.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, concened.

"Hmm… I don't know."

"What…? Are you ok or not?"

"Yes… I'm fine!"

"I need to use the bathroom. The Shadowfox will be here in thirty minutes."

"Can you call Tifa?"

"Tifa? Why?"

"Just call her."

"Lilah, let me in."

"No! I'm not coming out! Call Tifa."

Vincent sighed. He returned to the bedroom and picked up his cell phone from the night table. Then, he dialed Tifa's number.

"Vincent… The Shadowfox is already here… we are going to your place now to get you and Lilah in twenty minutes." She said just as the call connected.

"Good. Lilah is acting strange… She demands your presence here."

"Oh! Is she ok?"

"I… don't know."

"I'll talk to her as soon as I get there. Bye." She said and finally hung up.

After that, Vincent got dressed and ready to go out, although the lack of a good hot shower was making him feel uncomfortable.

About fifteen minutes after the phone call, someone knocked at the door.

"Hi! What's going on?" Tifa said as he opened the door.

"Tifa… She locked herself in the bathroom."

The woman entered the apartment and knocked the bathroom door.

"What?!" Lilah said from the other side.

"It's me, Tifa… Are you ok?"

Lilah opened the door a few inches, so Tifa only could see part of her face.

"Is Vincent there with you?"

"No. he's in the living room. What's the matter?"

Lilah opened the door a little bit more and made sure Vincent was not there with Tifa.

"Come in… quickly!" She said, and let Tifa get through.

"So… what's the mystery here? Wow! This bathroom is really small!"

"Do you know what this means?" Lilah asked her showing her a small plastic device that showed two thin red lines.

"Oh! This means you're pregnant... You're pregnant!"

"No! This has to be a mistake!" Lilah said, sitting in the toilet. "They are broke, they have to be broke or something!"

"They?" Tifa suddenly realized there were two more pregnancy tests next to the washing bowl. "Lilah… you are definitely pregnant… Oh, you are so pregnant!" Tifa said after she checked the other two tests.

"It can't be…"

"This is wonderful! Why do you worry about this? I'm sure you are scared and all that, but these are good news anyway!"

"You think so?"

"I don't think so, I'm sure! You have to tell Vincent now."

"This is so confusing… and it had to happen now, when I have so much on my mind."

"Come on, cheer up. This has to give you strength to go on, Lilah. Now you have another reason to be strong and defeat Phoenix!"

"Yeah! You are totally right!"

"Now, go and tell your man the good news." Tifa said, and opened the door.

"I can't… I don't know how."

Tifa sighed heavily and picked one of the tests.

"So, leave that to me… We'll be waiting for you two downstairs." Tifa said and came out from the bathroom.

"Tifa… what are you doing?" Lilah asked her, following her to the short corridor outside the bathroom.

"Vincent!" Tifa said when she saw him sitting in the couch waiting for the girls. She just threw the test to him. He caught it in mid air, looking sort of confused. "Congratulations!" She finally told him and left the apartment.

* * *

**A/N: Please, review!!!**


	8. A New Old Foe

**A New Old Foe**

Lilah entered the living room and realized that Tifa had already left the place. Then she turned to Vincent, who was standing next to the couch, confused, frowning at the pregnancy test.

"Why she...? What is this?" He asked.

Lilah arranged part of her hair nervously, while thinking about the best way to tell Vincent that he was going to be a father.

"Oh! Well…"

"Are you alright? What was keeping you in there?"

"We're having a baby."

Vincent saw the whole room spinning around him and suddenly found himself sitting on the couch.

"Sorry… I'm-not-feeling-well again-I just-heard-that… What?! I… I…" He said so fast that Lilah almost didn't understand what he told her. His reaction made her laugh quietly.

"I said that we're having a baby… Vincent, I'm pregnant."

"But… What?... How…?"

"Hmmm… We had sex, remember? And quite regularly since I've been living here." She said, obviously ironically. "And that's what usually happens when a man and a woman have sex."

"I'm not stupid." Vincent said and looked at Lilah's face. The only person that she had seen before with that empty look on his face had been Cloud. When she realized he was not reacting at all, she sat next to him and took one of his hands.

"Vincent… I know this is kind of unexpected and all... But, please, talk to me."

"We are having a baby…" he muttered. Then, his expression changed to his normal serious and impassive one again. "Are you… sure about this?"

"Yes… First I thought I was feeling all strange because of the nightmares and the training, but... Well, I guess the reason was this." Lilah started to feel uneasy and worried about his reaction. If having a baby was not in her plans, it was definitely not in his.

"Hmm…"

"Vincent… please, tell me this is good news for you… 'Cause I'm still not sure if it is for me."

Vincent looked into her eyes again and smiled lightly.

"Of course this is good news for me, Lilah." He said and she suddenly hugged him tight. This surprised him a little.

"I thought that you… maybe…" She mumbled.

"Don't be silly." He said and gently touched her head. "It's just that I didn't know that, well, after all the experimentations we've been through… I never thought we'd be able to conceive."

"Me either! Anyway… I think we need to make sure everything's ok with our baby, right?"

Vincent nodded.

"But now, you should go and get dressed. Everyone is waiting for us downstairs."

Lilah realized she was still wearing her pajamas. She smiled widely to him and immediately made haste to the bedroom.

It was obvious that she was anxious because of the baby, but she felt in heaven now that she was sure that Vincent was happy too.

Lilah changed her pajamas for her regular clothes almost immediately, and quickly checked her cell phone, only to find a very unpleasant message:

_I've got what you're looking for. Murdoch._

Lilah felt all her happiness suddenly fade away. She thought he had died long ago, back when Ives plans had failed. When she returned to the living room, Vincent just knew something was not right when he saw her standing there with that concerned look in her eyes. She just handed him her phone.

* * *

Tifa had just finished briefing Cloud, Yuffie and Riley about her friend's pregnancy, although the girls had to pretend to be surprised about it in front of Cloud, when Vincent and Lilah got on the vehicle.

"Hey! Congratulations, you two!" Yuffie said as soon as she saw them, and jumped to hug Lilah.

"What's the matter?" Tifa asked, noticing that Lilah seemed worried.

"Let's go to headquarters… There's something Reeve needs to know." Vincent said, as he sat down next to Riley.

Once they were all in the meeting room, Lilah quickly told them who Murdoch was and about the strange message she had just received.

"'I've got what you're looking for'... I wonder what it means." Yuffie said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Riley said, concerned. "We're looking for Vinaya, right?"

"Any news from Rude and Reno?" Cloud asked Reeve.

"They haven't found anything yet." Reeve answered.

"I wonder how he found out about this… I mean, no one else knows that we are looking for her." Lilah said.

"A spy, maybe." Vincent inquired.

"I don't think so… I used to work with him and I know he hates having partners." Lilah explained. "But I'm sure he's been spying on us somehow."

In that moment, Shelke entered the meeting room.

"We have an incoming transmission… I think you all have to see this." She said and turned on a monitor on the other side of the room. The screen immediately showed a live transmission.

"No!" Riley shouted. "That's her… Vinaya! He captured her!"

The girl in the screen seemed to be about seventeen years old, a lot younger that Lilah had pictured her. Her skin was light brown, and her hair was dark and shoulder length. She was sitting on the floor and seemed to be somehow unconscious.

"We have to help her!" Riley shouted again.

"Please, calm down!" Tifa told her.

"But… But if we don't save her she won't be able to help Lilah!" Riley insisted.

"Wait!" Lilah suddenly said, getting up. "I know that place… Come, on let's get going!"

Reeve started to give orders to some WRO soldiers in their way to the Shadowfox, and everything was almost ready for the rescue.

"You should stay at the headquarters." Vincent told Lilah when she was about to get in the vehicle.

"No, Vincent. I'm going too. I know Murdoch very well... I know where this place is and I know how to fight him." She told him, very decidedly.

"I'll do my best to bring this girl back safe and sound, but… please, stay here."

"I'm sorry…" She finally said and got on the Shadowfox.

Once everyone was inside the truck, Lilah explained that the place where Murdoch was probably keeping Vinaya was an old warehouse in Sector 4.

"We used to train there sometimes… I pretty sure that's the place. Murdoch has never been too creative; I bet that idiot couldn't think in another hiding place." Lilah said, taking out her swords and leaving them ready for battle.

"I don't know… Maybe he wants to be found." Cloud said.

"We have no choice." Riley told him. After that, they all concentrated in the imminent fight ahead.


	9. Out of Control

**Out of Control**

The Shadowfox parked about 100 feet from the warehouse. The whole area looked so damaged and old that it seemed like it was about to fall apart at any minute. Next, the back door of the truck was wide open.

"Ok… who's coming in with me?" Lilah asked after she got out of the vehicle.

"I still think you should stay here with Reeve… If something happens to you or..." Vincent said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!" Lilah said, quite upset. "Anyone else besides my personal bodyguard Vincent here?"

"I think we are all going with you." Yuffie said jumping out of the Shadowfox too. Cloud just nodded.

"Riley, Shelke, and I are staying here; we'll send any assistance you may need." Reeve told them, and then ordered a small squad of WRO soldiers to accompany them.

"No way! I'm going too!" Riley said, and got off from the truck too.

"Oh, well… The more, the merrier! Let's get going." Lilah said, and the whole group walked towards the old building.

The warehouse was dark and dirty. They even could see some fiends lurking in the corners. In the back of the main area there was some kind of division. There were an old sleeping bag and some evidence that a fire had been set there too.

"It seems that he's been living here." Tifa said.

"That stupid bastard!" Lilah said, getting somewhat angry because of the entire situation Murdoch had put her in.

"That's not a very nice way to call an old friend." Someone said from the back of the room. Then he appeared, walking cockily towards Lilah.

"I'm not your friend!" She replied immediately, and got her swords out.

"Give us the girl, now." Cloud said, stepping next to Lilah.

"I see you brought your little friends with you." Murdoch said, amused.

Vincent grabbed Cerberus and aimed directly to his head.

"Wow! Take it easy pal! I have the girl, but I never said I wouldn't give her to you." Murdoch said, and stepped backwards.

"Why have you been spying on me?" Lilah asked him.

"Well… I have some very exciting plans for us… and I wanted to make sure you're ready for them." He answered. Lilah was quite confused by his words. Murdoch turned around and entered in the small room in the back. He returned almost immediately holding Vinaya by her arm. He pushed her in front of him and she fell on her knees. She didn't seem to be totally conscious.

"Plans for us? What are you talking about?" Lilah asked him once again.

"I'm not talking to you Lilah… I'm talking to Phoenix…" Murdoch said, grinning at her. "Do you know why they want this girl? They intend to banish you with her help… You won't let that happen, right? You can finish her off right here… She's just a junkie!"

Lilah suddenly felt a strong headache and dropped her swords to the floor.

Murdoch laughed evilly. "Just as I thought... Come on, Phoenix... Join me! You could rule this world if you wanted to… I know the way."

"Don't listen to him!" Vincent said still aiming at Murdoch. "He's trying to play with your mind."

"You know what… I applied for the Turks once… but they said I didn't have what it takes to be one of them…" Murdoch said. "Maybe I lacked some of your qualities, Mr. Valentine. Maybe back then I was not as cold blooded as you were." Murdoch said, with an evil grin on his face.

"Get to the point." Vincent said, still aiming at his head.

"Obviously I couldn't kill like you did that night…. The whole Caine family, right? Ooops! I forgot you let the little girl live... What was her name? Alina I think. Even the Turk of Turks had his weaknesses."

Lilah realized the reason why Vincent had been acting strange the days after they were at the Chocobo Farm and felt her eyes filling with burning tears. Then she turned her face to Vincent.

"…I'm sorry." He muttered in low voice behind his collar, but she couldn't hear him anymore. She fell on her knees and a soft red light started to surround her. Riley immediately ran to her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Please! You can win!" She told her while she shook her heavily, but Lilah was not listening. "Don't lose control! Don't leave me again… Please!"

"That's what I wanted to see… Free yourself!" Murdoch said and laughed once again.

Vincent couldn't hold himself anymore and pulled the trigger. To his surprise, Murdoch had better reflexes that he had thought and was able to avoid two bullets, but he got hit in his left shoulder by the third one.

"Don't be naive, Valentine… you won't stop me with that. Phoenix! Take care of them!" Murdoch said and then he disappeared in the middle of an explosion that filled the room with smoke. Because of this happening, the fiends residing in the warehouse entered in a frenzy state and started to attack.

Meanwhile the rest fought the fiends, Riley kept on trying to make Lilah react, but now it seemed impossible: Phoenix was the one in control. As it had happened before, Lilah's appearance changed into a multicolor dress and wings, as well as her dark hair turned suddenly bright red. However, she seemed somehow different from the last time they had seen her in that state; she seemed dark and evil. Lilah's features were barely noticeable now.

"Let her go!... Let her go!" Riley cried, but Phoenix answered only with a roar, and pushed the teenager violently against a wall, hurting her mouth.

Vincent made his way through the fiends and reached the place where Riley was. Part of the girl's face was now covered in blood.

"Are you alright?" He asked her and helped her to get on her feet.

Riley just nodded; she was still shaky and about to breakdown.

"Riley... Listen to me..."

"You have to help her." She mumbled.

"I know… I'm not giving her up, but I need you to tell me how Vinaya is supposed to help her… We don't have much time."

Riley's eyes suddenly widened. She had completely forgotten that Vinaya was there too. She cleaned her face quickly and grabbed her sword.

"Leave that to me…Just distract Phoenix… I have a plan!"

Tifa, Yuffie and Cloud were fighting endless waves of fiends with the help of WRO soldiers while the presence of Phoenix seemed to strengthen the monsters.

Phoenix saw Vincent was walking towards her and drew her swords at the moment.

"What do you want? You came to look down on me again? You can't have her if I can't have you." Phoenix said and sent and sonic wave against Vincent. He guarded himself with the help of his gauntlet. He didn't want to hurt Lilah, especially because her current condition, so he decided just to avoid her attacks and give Riley a chance to put in motion her plan.

* * *

Riley moved slowly, her back against the wall, until she saw Vinaya lying in the floor, surrounded by fiends. She didn't have much experience in fighting, but she drew her mother's sword and did her best to get rid of most of them. 

"Please, get up… we need your help!" She said. Vinaya just looked at her, half asleep.

"I… don't know you." Vinaya muttered, after taking a look at Riley's face.

"We don't have time for that… I know what you can do…Please!" Riley told her, and tried to help her get up, but she was dead weight. Vinaya was completely drugged. However, Riley was not willing to give herself up yet. She had promised she was going to help Lilah and there was no way she wouldn't keep that promise.

* * *

"We are not your enemies, Phoenix… This fighting is pointless." Vincent said, trying to persuade her. 

"Liars!" She shouted and liberated an energy field that made the whole warehouse tremble. Suddenly, the place started to shake and pieces from the ceiling and the walls began to fall over them.

"Vincent! We have to get out of here!" Cloud told him, while he fought his way out of the warehouse. The WRO soldiers that were helping them in battle began to escape too.

"No! I'm not leaving her here!" Vincent answered him and a big piece of wall fell between them.

"I hate it! I hate the way you worry about her!" Phoenix yelled at Vincent and sent another sonic wave against him.

Phoenix was preparing another attack when she felt that someone grabbed her by her ankle. She turned around, totally upset and discovered Riley helping Vinaya to get a hold of Phoenix. She was willing to attack both girls, but she couldn't. She started to feel powerless and weak, like losing control over Lilah's body. Vincent took the chance and forced her down. Meanwhile, Riley managed to get Vinaya to get a hold Phoenix' hand. Phoenix felt that the part of her skin in contact with Vinaya was burning and screamed in pain. Finally, she was unable to control the body she had taken control of, and Lilah turned into her normal appearance again.

"We need to get out of here." Riley said, while trying unsuccessfully to get Vinaya to her feet. Vincent took Lilah, who was now totally unconscious, in his arms and tried to figure out a way to help Riley with Vinaya, but he couldn't. "It's ok… Get Lilah out of here now… We'll be waiting for help to come… Hurry!" Riley said, even when she knew they were not going to get back to her in time.

"I cannot leave you here." Vincent told her, and placed Lilah over his shoulder. But even in that way, he was not able to carry both Lilah and Vinaya.

"I'll take care of her, Vincent." Someone said behind him. It was Cloud who had returned to help his friends. He took Vinaya, and all of them were able to get out of the building just in time to see it crumble.


	10. Not Longer a Secret

**Not Longer a Secret**

Lilah woke up and found herself lying in a recovery capsule in the WRO headquarters, just like when she had fought Ives some months ago. This time it was Riley who was sitting next to her. As soon she realized Lilah had woken up, she released her from the capsule.

"Lilah… How do you feel?" She asked her immediately.

"I... I don't know. What happened?" Lilah said as she sat on the edge of the capsule.

"It was Phoenix… That guy just made her mad and turned her against us… But don't worry… No one was badly hurt."

"Oh… right… I remember now…" Lilah said, looking down. "But how did all of you handle Phoenix?"

"Well… I guess Vinaya really saved the day! She has an exceptional ability... Somehow, she can calm down any type of demon or creature living inside of a person just by getting in contact with their skin... I managed to get her to hold your hand and Phoenix was gone in no time! Now she's resting... Sadly, she seems to have a serious drug problem."

"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that…"

"But as soon as both of you are ready we'll ask her to extract Phoenix for good."

"Great!" Lilah said, pretending to be as enthusiastic as Riley was.

"May I ask you something?" Riley said, sitting next to Lilah.

"…Sure." Lilah answered, and looked at her.

"Who's… who's Alina?" Riley said, quite hesitating.

"I am Alina… at least that was my name long time ago. Sorry, Riley but I don't feel like talking about that now."

"Oh! It's ok… Now I see why Phoenix was so mad." Apparently, there were more things about her parents that she didn't know.

Lilah gave the girl a quick fake smile and arranged her hair in a messy bun.

"So… where's… everyone?" Lilah asked her. She didn't have the courage to ask directly about Vincent.

"Well… I don't know... Tifa came here about two hours ago and told me she was going home. Then Vincent asked me to stay here with you. I haven't seen anyone else since we came back from the warehouse… Well, ex warehouse." Riley explained.

"I should go home now." Lilah said. She was actually worried about how Vincent would think she would react to the new information she had about her parents' death.

"Yes… But… are you sure you're feeling ok?" Riley asked, quite worried.

"Yeah… I'm a tough girl, don't worry!"

"By the way… Dr. Gavin had some test made while you were asleep… The results are in a folder over there." Riley said as she pointed out a small table on the other side of the room.

Lilah stood up and got the folder. She started to read the examinations results immediately.

"Well, these aren't news to me." Lilah said after reading.

"What do you mean?"

"The results say I'm two months pregnant, but we already know that… At least I know my baby is ok now."

"That's good news! Really!" Riley said, quite jumpy.

"Yeah… well, see you around!" Lilah said, and left the room. Then, Reeve had the Shadowfox ready to take her home.

* * *

Vincent was quite tired of wandering. He had searched for Murdoch in every corner he knew of the ruins of Midgar, but didn't find a single trace of him. It was almost midnight when he decided to finally go home. Somehow, he was trying to avoid facing Lilah once again. It had happened so long ago, but he had actually killed her parents. Now she was aware of that and he didn't know what her reaction was going to be.

He entered the apartment and realized all the lights were off. As he usually did, he took off his cloak and left it over the couch. Then he walked towards the bed room, and came to realize Lilah was there, asleep, and, as she usually did when she was alone, she was sleeping in the middle of the bed. Vincent didn't felt like bothering her, and after changing into his pajama. Then, he decided to get a blanket from the closet. He pulled one from the upper compartment and some things fell out on him. Of course, this woke Lilah up immediately.

"What are you doing?" She asked, quite sleepy.

"Nothing." he said, and quickly made his way back to the living room, leaving the closet's door wide opened and a lot of things lying around. He was planning on spending the night on the couch.

Lilah got up immediately and followed him.

"Vincent… We need to talk."

"Hmph."

She approached at him and hugged him from the back. Vincent just stood still.

"Why are you doing this?" He finally said.

"Doing what?" She asked while keeping her eyes closed tight and her face pressed against his back.

"Pretending nothing happened, as you always do."

Lilah sighed and let go of him. Vincent turned around and looked at her.

"I don't even remember my parents, Vincent."

"What I did was unforgivable."

"It was your job."

"Stop justifying me!"

"I can't! You're everything I have… Vincent, I also made a lot of mistakes in the past, and you know that."

"I ruined your life!"

"Stop it!! You didn't!! Despite of everything that had happened to me lately, there's no other place in the world where I'd like to be now but here… with you!"

"Why?" He asked, still impassive.

"'Cause I love you! Is that hard for you to believe that someone can love you like this?"

Vincent kept his eyes fixed on hers.

"Vincent… we are a family now. Let's not ruin it… Please."

He just nodded and Lilah hugged him again.

"There's only one thing that bothers me about all this… Why didn't you tell me?"

"I… didn't want to hurt you."

"But it hurt even more hearing it from Murdoch… I would have rather heard it from you."

"…I'm sorry." Vincent knew what she meant. He had felt betrayed when he knew she had been a spy, back when she still worked for Von Gorge, and this situation was not very different.

"Come on… I know you need some rest too… You don't need to sleep on the couch." She said, then took his hand and walked towards the bedroom. "We'll have a very busy day tomorrow."

* * *

Lilah woke up very early that morning and in a very good mood. Vincent was still asleep, his hair all messed up around him. Lilah was arranging some locks out from his face and then she felt like kissing him on his cheek. She did and his eyes were immediately wide opened.

"Good morning." She whispered next to his ear.

"…Hmph…" He definitely wanted to sleep some more.

Lilah continued on kissing him over his face and then on his neck.

"What are you doing?" He said, almost chuckling. She had surely touched a sensitive spot. She didn't answer, but continued on kissing him, now on his lips, as she placed herself over him. Vincent gave her a naughty grin and started to take the top of her pajama off. In that very moment, his cell phone rang.

"Don't answer." She said, but Vincent was already looking at his phone's screen.

"It's Cloud… It better be important." He said. Then, he pushed the 'answer' button. "Cloud... What's the matter?..." Then, he remained in silence for a couple of seconds listening to Cloud. "I see… Right… We'll be there in about an hour."

Lilah returned to her side of the bed and looked at him.

"What happened?" She asked him.

"We have a problem. We need to get to headquarters as soon as possible." He said and got up from the bed.

"Vincent… What's going on?" Lilah asked him, while getting up too. Vincent wasn't a very expressive man, but thanks to the time that they had been together by then, Lilah was starting to learn how to read him. This time, she realized something was absolutely not right.

"…It's Vinaya."

"Vinaya? Is she ok?"

"Yes, she's ok, but…"

"But what?!" Lilah was stating to get impatient now.

"Vinaya has refused to help you."


	11. Relatives

**Relatives**

After all she had been through, Riley couldn't believe what was happening then. She had almost died trying to save Vinaya and now she was refusing to help Lilah. The teenager was sitting on a balcony, just outside the WRO building, when she saw Vincent and Lilah arrive. She immediately ran towards them.

"We already know… Please, stay out of this." Vincent told her before Riley could say a word. Lilah seemed so into her own thoughts that she didn't even look at Riley as she and Vincent entered the building. However, Riley followed them inside.

"What's the situation?" Vincent asked Cloud as soon as he met him in the hallway.

"She said she has to go home… We've tried to explain to her why we need her here, but she refuses to listen." Cloud explained.

"I'll talk to her." Lilah said, and entered the room where Vinaya had been resting.

The first thing she saw once she was inside the room was an impatient young woman looking out the window. In the middle of the room there was a table with a tray with some food that seemed untouched.

"Hello." Lilah said, as she came closer to her.

"I'm not helping any of you, you hear me!" Was Vinaya's immediate response.

"Oh... Nice to meet you too!" Lilah said, getting upset. Vinaya just gave her a cold glare, then she rolled her eyes and continued looking through the window.

"Don't you at least want to know why I need your help?"

"No, I don't care! I just wanna go home… I have to!" Her dark, almond shaped eyes seemed pleading now.

"Look… If you help me, I'll help you… We have doctors here, we can help you overcome your drug problem."

"I don't have a problem!" Vinaya said and looked at Lilah as if she were talking nonsense.

"If you just…" Lilah didn't finish her sentence, because in that moment the door of the room was opened once again and Yuffie went into the room, carrying a small girl that looked very much like the woman standing in front of her. The child seemed to be about two years old.

"Priya!" Vinaya said and ran towards Yuffie.

"Look what I found in Vinaya's house… She was all alone and scared!" Yuffie said and handed the child to Vinaya.

"My baby!" Vinaya said, hugging the little girl.

"Is that… Your daughter?" Lilah asked, surprised that Vinaya was already a mother despite of her short age. "So that's why you wanted to go home so badly, right?" Lilah asked. "Because your baby was there, alone."

Vinaya nodded and then cleaned her daughter's face. It was clear that the little girl had been crying.

"Yuffie, please… Leave us alone. I need to talk to her in private."

"Oh! Sure!" Yuffie said and walk to the door. Then, she turned around again. "Good luck!" She whispered to Lilah and finally went out of the room.

Vinaya sat at the table and started to feed the little girl with some of the food that had been given to her for breakfast.

"You have a beautiful girl, Vinaya." Lilah said, standing at the other end of the table. Vinaya just gave her a suspicious look.

"Thank you." She answered and shifted her attention to her child again.

"You really helped me yesterday… In the warehouse."

"I don't remember."

"I'm sorry if you've been into trouble since we're looking for you… But we wouldn't bother you if it wasn't extremely necessary… You are my only hope."

"Look, I told you I don't care what you and your friends want with me… I have a child to raise, I'm all alone and you are not helping me… So… Can I go home now?"

Lilah sighed and finally gave up.

"Ok… You can go home."

"And tell your stupid friend Murdoch not to bother me again." Vinaya said, as she got up, willing to leave the room.

"Wait! Murdoch's not my friend… Actually he's been making my life a living hell lately… Did you…? Did you think he was my friend?" Lilah asked while getting on her feet too.

"Ok… As far as I'm concerned, you sent that guy to kidnap me."

"No! We've been looking for you for a couple of days and he just captured you to make things harder for me." Lilah explained. Vinaya listened to her carefully and sat down again.

"You don't work for Shinra, do you?"

"As far as I know, Shinra has been inactive since Meteorfall... And actually you are now in the WRO headquarters."

"So… You don't want to experiment with my ability."

"No!" Lilah approached Vinaya and took her hand. She immediately felt a peaceful sensation in her mind and body, something that she had never felt before. She didn't remember very well her life before harboring Phoenix, so the touch of Vinaya's hand stopped the roaring of the creature inside, something she was so used to live with that she didn't even consider a problem. "Do you feel it? This is Phoenix… She turned into a vicious being some time ago, and I really need you to help me get rid of her."

Lilah let go of her hand and sat down next to her. Vinaya looked at her, still surprised, but didn't say a word.

"Yesterday I found out that I'm pregnant… Please, give me and my baby an opportunity to have a normal life."

"I'm sorry… I can't help you. The last time I tried to extract a creature from someone's body I killed my whole family in the process. It's too dangerous, especially if you're pregnant."

"Please… Just tell me that you are willing to help me… I'm sure we'll find a way!" Lilah said. She was about to breakdown, her eyes filled with tears.

Vinaya's nod was enough to give Lilah some hope.

* * *

"How do you think things are going on in there?" Riley asked Vincent who was sitting on the stairs of the main entrance of the building. She smiled at him and sat by his side. 

"I don't know… But I do know that Lilah can be very persuasive."

"I hope everything turns out ok."

"Yesterday you asked Lilah not to leave you again. What does that mean?" Vincent suddenly asked her, switching the topic without anticipation.

"I didn't say that!" Riley lied, keeping her eyes fixed in the floor.

"You did. And I want to know why."

Riley remained in silence, then she sat up, willing to enter the building again, but Vincent grabbed her wrist tightly and forced her to sit down again.

"Who are you?"

"I guess there's no use in hiding it from you now… I mean, Tifa and Yuffie already know."

Vincent looked at her interrogatively and let go of her.

"Since I can remember I've been told I have her eyes, but I never realized how true that was until I saw her again. She died when I was just five and I don't remember very well how my life by her side was. I am putting all my heart in this mission to have our family back."

Vincent looked at her again and suddenly realized of the truth. Her nose, her lips, even her hair … it was like looking in a mirror. He sat up and started to walk back and forth in front of her.

"Foolish girl…" He muttered. "Do you know how risky this is?"

"I know… But I assure you don't want to go through what I did."

Vincent stopped walking and got down if front of Riley.

"I'm sorry… I've been so unfair towards you."

Riley just smiled lightly at him.

"... You do have her eyes." He said. Riley just couldn't contain herself and hugged him tight.

* * *

**A/N:** I want to thank Bubblefox for reviewing almost all of my new chapters... And you know what? All of you should do the same! Click that nice little "go" button!! 


	12. Paradox and Truth

**Paradox and Truth **

Once she had talked to Vinaya, Lilah felt relieved. She talked with Reeve afterwards about giving a proper cleaning treatment and housing to Vinaya while they figure out how to extract Phoenix without putting Lilah's life in danger. Shelke, who was then continuing some of her sister's research, along with other WRO scientists were in charge of investigating Vinaya's ability to find out a way. After that, Lilah had to undergo some other tests to let the scientists know more about Phoenix.

When it was finally over, she went out of the building and was very surprised to see Vincent talking with Riley. Both of them were sitting in the staircase at the main entrance of the building.

"I didn't realize it was this late!" She said looking at her cell phone's clock. It was already 5pm.

"Is everything ok?" Vincent asked her.

"Is Vinaya going to help you?" Riley asked almost at the same time Vincent did. Lilah just laughed at the fact both of them, Riley and Vincent, were so worried about her.

"Hey! Take it easy! Vinaya is going to cooperate… I'm glad about that. And about me, I'm just tired now, but fine. Anyway…What are you two up to?" She asked them then.

"We're just chatting." Vincent said.

"Oh! So now you are the talkative type!" Lilah said, crossing her arms over her chest and smiling.

Riley and Lilah started laughing and Vincent frowned at them.

"It's ok." Lilah said, while touching his hair, trying to put his locks down. "Let's go home now… I'm kinda hungry." He nodded and stood up.

"Riley, wait for us in the Shadowfox." Vincent told the girl.

"Ok." She said, and ran to the vehicle.

"Is she having dinner with us?" Lilah asked, quite confused.

"No. She is staying with us. We're picking her belongings at Tifa's on our way home."

"Oh! That's ok for me, but... I thought you didn't even like her."

"… I changed my mind." He said and walked to the vehicle too. Lilah sighed heavily and followed him to the Shadowfox; it seemed that Vincent would never stop surprising her.

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"Here we are…You can make yourself comfortable, Riley." Lilah said when they got to the apartment. "I'll go and make us something to eat, ok?"

"Where do I leave my stuff and everything?" Riley asked Vincent when Lilah was already in the kitchen.

Vincent walked down the corridor and opened the door of the room next to the one he and Lilah were sharing.

"Here." He said. Riley looked inside the room. It seemed that all the mess Vincent had in the apartment before Lilah started living there had been put together in that small room. It was full of boxes, old furniture and guns. "Do yourself a favor and start cleaning this up… It'll be the baby's room. I'll go and make sure Lilah doesn't set the kitchen on fire." Vincent said and left Riley alone.

"You are so mean!" Lilah told him when he entered the kitchen. "You can't just invite her to stay here and make her clean the room by herself!" She didn't seem mad about it, but actually amused.

"She'll be fine."

Lilah gave him a look of disapproval and took a package out from a shelf.

"What are we having for dinner?" He asked walking closer to her.

"Well… This is some pasta with cheese sauce… there's no way I'm messing this up, you see… It's ready to boil and serve! I just have to put it in the microwave with some water." Lilah said, while getting a plastic bowl from another shelf.

"Very healthy." Vincent said, lying against the refrigerator.

"Well… now that you mention it… I think I need to start eating healthy stuff now. I mean, I'm pregnant! I can't just eat pizza and pasta, right?"

Vincent nodded and smiled lightly at her. Lilah put some water in the bowl, then put the pasta in it and put it in the microwave. She turned the appliance on and faced Vincent.

"You should smile more often… you look so handsome when you do."

She came closer to him and kissed him. Vincent wrapped his arms around her and laid his head over hers.

"I'm scared too, Vincent… I don't want to lose this." She said. He was surprised to hear exactly was he was thinking, how scared he was of losing everything they had built since they were together. Scared of failing the one he loved again.

"I know."

"But, you know what? I feel more optimistic about all this now that I know Vinaya is willing to help. I trust that Shelke and Dr. Gavin are going to find a way to extract Phoenix."

"Awww… You two look so cute together!" Riley said from the kitchen's entrance. She was carrying a huge box with all sorts of things inside, mainly weapons. "But, can you save the romance for later and lend me a hand with this?"

Vincent immediately helped Riley with the box and, only because Lilah insisted on in, he also helped the girl with the cleaning the room.

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About 6pm, the three of them were sitting at the table having dinner. Lilah had truly managed not to burn their dinner. Actually, it tasted quite good this time.

"So… Riley, can you tell us something about your life in the future?" Lilah asked her.

The girl just shook her head.

"Aww… come on! It won't hurt! Do you have any boyfriend or 'special friend'? You're pretty, I'm sure you do." Lilah asked her, grinning at her. Vincent just coughed and drank some juice from the glass he had in front of him.

"A boyfriend? Lilah, she's just a kid." He said mumbled.

"How old are you, anyway?" Lilah asked her now.

"I'm fourteen… Almost fifteen." Riley answered, getting somewhat uncomfortable because of Vincent's reaction. Although he had not always been there with her, she knew he was quite a concerned father, and she was sure he already was.

"See? She's old enough to have a boyfriend." Lilah told Vincent.

"I don't have a boyfriend… well, there's one guy that I like, but he's not my boyfriend. My father would kill me if he knew I'm dating someone." Riley said.

"Probably." Vincent said, and then tried to change the subject of the conversation to one less irritating. "Riley, now that we are aware of what can happen if Phoenix gets out of control, do you plan to return to your own time?"

"Vincent! That's so rude of you. I mean, it sounds like you already want her to leave!" Lilah told him.

"… That is not what I meant…" He excused himself.

"Well, actually if I'm still here it means that I haven't achieved my goal yet." Riley answered.

"What do you mean?" Lilah asked, quite confused.

"You see… I have your sword, Lilah. If you were still to exist in my time line, I shouldn't have it. I mean, I only have it because you were not there anymore. Both of you know that I can be here only because I keep my time materia equipped. So, when I fulfill my goal, this sword should disappear from this time and return to the future with its true owner, that's your future self, Lilah. That would lead to unequiping the time materia and also I would return to my time." Riley explained. Lilah looked at her with a blank expression on her face.

"You intend to explain that if you are still here, that means Lilah is not safe yet, right?" Vincent finally said.

"Exactly! But don't worry… I'm pretty sure everything is going to turn out just fine for all of us." Riley said. Lilah gave her a fake smile, and sighed loud.

"It's ok… we are all doing our best. But now I really want to lay down for a while… I'm so tired! You two can take care of the dishes." Lilah said and left to the bedroom.

"If everything goes well… I'll make sure you don't have any boyfriends until you're eighteen." Vincent told Riley once she was already in the bedroom and couldn't hear him. Riley just looked at him and then smiled. Knowing that he cared really made her happy.


	13. Good and Bad News

**Good and Bad News**

Vincent jumped out of the Shadowfox and hit the side of the vehicle a couple of times to let the driver know he was already off the car and he could leave. It was already 10pm so it was dark and the only light that could be seen was the one coming from the small house near the beach.

After almost losing control a couple of times during an observation session at the WRO headquarters Laboratory, Lilah decided she needed some rest. She was feeling weak and tired, because of the stress the scientist had put her in and also because of the pregnancy, so she rented a small house outside Edge on the coast and invited Vinaya to spend some days with her. Of course, Vincent still needed to attend to his duties in the WRO, so he didn't spend much time there. The three weeks he had spent without her in the apartment had really made him think about how important Lilah had become to him. She had given him more than he ever thought he could have in his life, not only a partner to spend his days with, but also she would give him a beautiful daughter. By then he was missing not only her company, but everything about her, even her cooking! She was supposed to be back at the apartment in a few days, but this was an especial occasion; he had news for her and couldn't wait for her to return home.

He walked to the house, but something caught his attention. Lilah was sitting on the ground near the beach, looking at the sea. Vincent walked closer to her silently and crouched behind her.

"What are you doing out here? It's late." He whispered near her ear. She jumped a little bit in surprise, but smiled when she realized it was him.

"Vincent! I'm so happy you're here!" She said and kissed him. He sat in the sand too, behind her and let her lay against him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better… I've been kinda sleepy these days, but besides that I'm fine. And I've missed you so much!"

"And how is our baby?" he asked laying his hand over her small, but now noticeable belly.

"It's ok too." She said and chuckled. "The baby was missing you too." Vincent smirked and thought about the fact that Riley had been accompanying him all those days Lilah had been at the beach. "So… What's going on? I wasn't expecting you."

"I wanted to surprise you." He said and hugged her. She took one of his hands and held it in hers. She was fairly tanned by then, so his pale hand seemed to contrast against her skin.

"Well, you really did."

"Let's go inside... You shouldn't be here alone this late. Where is Vinaya?" Vincent said, got up and invited her to do the same.

"She's inside the house. She was trying to put Priya to sleep when I came out here. Now I see how hard is to raise a child! I hope we'll do ok."

"I hope so too."

When they entered the house, they found Vinaya sitting in the small living room watching TV. She seemed quite surprised to see Vincent there too.

"Hi there." She said shyly. Lilah found it funny that Vinaya was always like that when Vincent was around. Once she asked why and she told her his red eyes made her uneasy.

Vincent took off his cloak, hung it in a small closet and sat straight in an armchair in front of Vinaya. She just couldn't take her eyes from his gun.

"Uh… Vincent… Why don't you give me Cerberus? I'll leave it in my room. Vinaya is kinda scared of guns." Lilah told him. He just looked at both girls, quite confused, drew his gun and handed it to Lilah.

"You're a sweetheart!" Lilah told him and carried the gun to her room. "So… I hope you're staying tonight… It's quite late to go back to Edge now, don't you think?" She told him from the bedroom.

"I don't know… Riley is alone in the apartment." Vincent said.

"She's a big girl. I don't know why you worry that much about her. She'll be fine." Lilah told him, now returning from the bedroom.

"…I think you're right. Yes… but now I need to talk to both of you." He said, making himself more comfortable in the armchair now.

"What about?" Vinaya asked him. Lilah sat next to Vinaya in the couch.

"Shelke has made some advances in her research." Vincent started to explain.

"Oh! Really?" Lilah said and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes immediately widened. Vincent nodded.

"The procedure is not completely safe, but she says she could help you, Vinaya, to extract Phoenix."

"That's… that's great!" Vinaya said, looking at Lilah. Lilah just sighed loud and smiled.

"You're being serious, right?" She asked him.

"Of course I'm being serious." He answered. "Reeve will be sending the Shadowfox tomorrow at noon to take you to the lab. Dr. Gavin still needs to run a few last tests to make sure the procedure is safe enough to be made in your current condition."

"Vincent… you have no idea how happy you've just made me! Finally! After all these weeks!" Lilah said. Then she stood up and started to walk back and forth the room.

In that moment, Priya started to cry.

"Oh, no! I thought she was sleeping already!" Vinaya said. "It's ok, baby! Mommy's here! Just wait and see, Lilah. It'll be your turn in a few months!"

Lilah just smiled at her. "Good night!"

Once they were alone in the living room, Lilah took Vincent's hand and led him to her bedroom.

"Let's celebrate!" She said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck when they were already and the room and had closed the door.

"Lilah… Vinaya is in the other room." He said. Lilah was now unbuttoning his shirt.

"Oh, it's ok. She won't hear a thing." She finished unbuttoning his shirt and made him sit on the bed. She always laughed at the fact that taking his clothes off was such a 'tinkling' activity, because all of the little chains and zippers it had.

"And you're pregnant… I don't know if we should…"

"I'm just pregnant, I'm not ill!" She said and took his headband off. She could feel he was getting in the mood too. "I missed you." She said and kissed him.

"I can see that… I missed you too." He said, taking his headband from Lilah's hands. Then, he used it to pull her even closer to him. She smiled naughtily at him and took his shirt off. He took her T-shirt off too and started to kiss her on her neck and chest.

"I almost can't believe this is true! I'll finally get rid of Phoenix… for good!" She said. Vincent stopped kissing her and made her sit next to him.

"Don't get too excited about that, Lilah… What if it doesn't work?"

"I hate when you're like this! It will work… I'm sure about it. You'll see… Tomorrow we'll be a normal family…You, me and our baby."

"...I hope you're right."

She smiled at him once again and laid back in the bed. Vincent laid back too and then turned to her and kissed her. Next, he run his index finger along the edge of her bra, then down her stomach and finally started to unbutton her pants. That was when she suddenly stopped him.

"You need to promise me one thing first." Lilah told him, looking at him seriously. He just raised his eyebrows in surprise. "No cell phone calls this time."

He sat in the bed, took his cell phone out from his pocket and turned it off.

"It's a deal."

* * *

The next morning, Vincent woke up by the sound of someone knocking at their door. As he knew probably Lilah wouldn't wake up that easily, so he got up, put his pants on and opened the door. 

"Uh… Sorry to wake you up, but Lilah left her cell phone in the living room last night and it's been ringing the whole morning." Vinaya told him and handed him the small silver device.

"…Thanks." He said and closed the door. He looked at the cell phone's clock to see it was 9pm. Lilah had 12 missed calls: five of them where from Reeve and the rest from Yuffie. Actually, the phone started to ring in that very moment.

"Lilah… Wake up… Yuffie is calling you."

"Mmm… You answer." She said, half asleep.

"…Yuffie." He said, once he had pressed the 'answer' button.

"Vincent? I've been calling you and Lilah for ages!!" Yuffie yelled on the other side.

"Is everything alright?"

"No! We have a huge problem! Last night the WRO intelligence team and I discovered that Murdoch guy's hideout, but it happened that Riley knew about this and went there all by herself!"

"Damn it!"

"We're trying to locate her… Vincent! Do something!"

"Yuffie... Ask Reeve to send the Shadowfox for me... I'll go to get her." He said and then hung up. He started to get dressed immediately.

"What's going on?" Lilah asked him. She was fully awake now.

"Nothing… You don't need to worry." He said, trying to sound casual.

"I know that when you say that it's because something really bad is going on. Tell me!"

"It's Riley… She's in trouble."

"She'll be fine! Why can't someone else take care of her? Sometimes I think you worry too much about that girl… We barely know her."

"Don't say that… You know if it wasn't for her…"

"I know… But, look at you! You're acting as if you were her father!" Vincent didn't answer and just continued getting dressed. "Vincent! Just let the others handle this… I really need you with me today."

"Lilah… Have you ever looked at Riley's face carefully? She comes from fifteen years in the future… Do the math. She went after Murdoch now."

Lilah looked at his eyes and realized about what he was trying to tell her.

"You mean she's… Riley is… How stupid of me! How come I couldn't figure this out before!?" She jumped out from the bed and started to get dressed too. "That's why she was always looking at me like that! That's why she has my sword! This explains so many things…"

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going with you."

"I can handle this, please… Stay here."

"I can't! Murdoch's dangerous. I just can stay here! You know that!"

Vincent put his hands over Lilah's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.

"I'll do what I can to bring her back safely. Riley's future is not written yet, but if something happens to you... Do you understand how important it is that you stay here? Promise me you'll stay here. " Lilah nodded. Vincent kissed her forehead and let go of her. "I'll call you when everything is in order. Just stay here with Vinaya."

He picked up his cell phone from the night table, put Cerberus back at his side and went out of the room.

Lilah sighed and closed her eyes. Then, she continued getting dressed.

Once she was ready, she went out of the room and found Vinaya in the living room. She was plugging her videogame console to the TV.

"What happened to Vincent? He just stormed out of here."

"Vinaya… I need you to come with me somewhere."

"What about Priya?"

"We'll leave her at Tifa's on our way."

"…Ok. I'll be ready in five minutes." She said and went to her bedroom.

Lilah opened the small closet near the main entrance of the house and got her swords out of it.

"I'm sorry, Vincent… This is a promise I cannot keep."

* * *

**A/N:** Wow... I didn't notice how quickly I got to this point of the story XD I think there are only like two or three chapters left. Well... I want to take this opportunity to thank some people: Live4Dance88, for not only checking on my chapters before the world knows I make silly mistakes, but also for allowing me to put Vinaya and Priya in this story. Bubblefox, because we both know how important reviews are. RenzokukenZ, for taking his time to read my story and leave a bunch of very constructive reviews... I really appreciate it. _Thanks to you too XD._ That's it... I hope you enjoy the last chapters of my story. 


	14. Found and Lost

**Found and Lost**

"Lilah? I thought you two were staying at the beach for a couple of more days." Tifa asked her when she saw her and Vinaya enter the bar. The girls had arrived in Vinaya's flying car. The vehicle was now parked outside the bar.

"Yeah, we changed our mind… Tifa, can you take care of Priya for a while? We…. We're going shopping now." Lilah said.

"Sure!" Tifa answered and Vinaya handed her the little girl. "You're going shopping for baby clothes, right?"

"Yes." Lilah lied. "By the way, do you know where Cloud is?" Lilah asked Tifa. She knew pretty well that Cloud was involved in the capture of Murdoch. Neither Vincent nor Yuffie were going to tell her where they were, and considering that Tifa seemed not to know exactly what was going on, it was the best way to know where Murdoch's hideout was.

"He told me he was going to the Wastelands… WRO business I think, why?" Tifa had just given her enough information.

"Nothing! I wanted to ask him something, but I think I can wait until he's back." Lilah answered, but Tifa looked at her suspiciously. "Vincent told me it's probable that Vinaya will be extracting Phoenix tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure everyone's ready in case it attacks." That was the only excuse that came to her mind.

"Oh! That's great! I'm so happy for you... Well, I'll tell him as soon as he's back."

"Thanks. We'll be going now… See you around!" Vinaya said, grabbed Lilah's arm and almost dragged her outside the bar. "I think you need to tell me what the hell you're doing!" She seemed pretty upset.

"I'll go and help Riley. She's probably captured by now. That stubborn child went after Murdoch." Lilah explained.

"But that's too dangerous!"

"I know! But I can't just sit and wait! I understand if you don't want to come along… Can you lend me your flying car?" Vinaya looked at her, rolled her eyes and gave her a set of keys. "Thanks." The small vehicle was not very different from Yuffie's, but still Lilah couldn't figure out how to turn it on.

"Oh! Come on! I'm going with you… Besides, what if Phoenix decides to show up and I'm not there?" Vinaya said. Lilah moved to the back of the flying car and allowed Vinaya to drive her to the Wasteland.

* * *

Two WRO trucks parked in the middle of the Wastelands. Vincent, Yuffie, Cloud and Nanaki got off from one of them. Yuffie picked up some binoculars and pointed a closed area about 800 feet from their location. It looked like an endless maze of rocks. 

"That way!" Yuffie said. "I had some of the guys from the organization watching this area for a few days, until they finally spotted some people coming out of it. According to the description, one of them was Murdoch."

"So what do we do?" Cloud asked, although he was already getting his sword ready.

"We don't have many options." Vincent said, as he checked the area.

"I think we should take a small group to support us." Yuffie told him.

Suddenly, Vincent got down and picked something from the floor a few feet away from the truck. It was Riley's bag. He checked it and realized it was empty.

"No." He said. "He's using her as a diversion… I'm sure he wants Lilah here. We better hurry. A larger group will only get his attention. We can handle this on our own."

"Oh! I hope Riley's ok!" Yuffie said.

Nanaki smelled the girl's bag and looked at Vincent.

"Relatives, uh?" He said but Vincent was too concerned to pay attention to his comment. "This way." He finally said. Cloud nodded and the four of them got ready to get Riley back.

* * *

"There!" Lilah said, while she and Vinaya were scouting the area, searching for a clue that could lead them either to Riley or Vincent. She had just seen the two WRO trucks beneath them. Vinaya parked next to one of the trucks and a WRO officer approached immediately. 

"Miss Lilah, you shouldn't be here." He said.

"Have you seen Vincent?"

"Mr. Valentine is in a mission right now. You can wait for him if you want to." He said.

"No! I can't wait! Where is him? Was Riley with him?"

"No, but I think he and his friends were looking for her."

"Where did they go?"

"Over there." He said and pointed to the place where some other WRO soldiers were searching now. Lilah drew one of her swords and walked straight to the place the officer had shown her. "Do you want an escort?"

"No, thanks."

"Are you sure about this?" Vinaya asked her while they were getting close to the entrance of the secluded area.

"No... Vinaya, Riley is my daughter... She's the baby I'm carrying now." Vinaya looked at her, surprised. "She came here to save my life… I won't let Murdoch lay a hand over her… Now, it's going to be dangerous inside... Are you coming with me?"

* * *

Riley had made a huge mistake in going there by herself. She knew her mission was in grave danger now. Murdoch was keeping her near the back wall of the labyrinth like area that ended in a seemingly bottomless cliff. 

"You know what?" Murdoch said while tightened the gag over Riley's mouth. "You remind me of a woman I met long ago… She used to be reckless, just like you. But she changed... She's not worthy of the guardian force she harbors anymore. Maybe with your help I'll be able to… Get her to her senses once again." He grabbed her face and looked at her closely. "Just thinking about that amount of power trapped inside of her makes me so mad!"

Riley felt so disgusted, angry and so scared that couldn't help the tears from coming from her eyes. Her silent cry just seemed to please Murdoch even more. However, she was managing to free one of her hands from the rope that was tightening them. At least her sword was not very far from her, so the time materia was still having effect on her.

"Let her go, you moron!" Yuffie yelled as soon as she saw Murdoch near Riley. He smirked, got his gun out and shielded himself behind the teenager. Though, he didn't count on the fact that Lilah was not there to rescue the girl, like he had planned. His evil smile faded away almost immediately.

"So… Where's the guest of honor?" He asked.

"Let the girl go, Murdoch." Cloud said, as he and Vincent walked slowly toward him.

"Lilah is not here, your plan failed." Vincent said, aiming at him. Murdoch just laughed suddenly.

"I guess I know her more than you, Valentine. She'll be here in any minute! It's just her nature. She can't help it." Murdoch said.

Vincent looked at Riley's face that pleaded for help and walked closer.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you… You don't this pretty girl to end up in the bottom of this cliff, right? I was just telling her how much she reminds me of our Lilah. Her blue eyes, dark hair, soft skin…"

Vincent couldn't contain his anger anymore and pulled the trigger, missing his target on purpose to avoid hurting Riley.

* * *

"Did you hear that?! This way!" Lilah got a hold of Vinaya's arm and ran as fast as she could until she reached the place where Riley was being kept. 

"Ha! What did I just tell you? Just in time, Lilah!" Murdoch said and laughed once again.

"What are you doing here?!" Vincent asked her, concerned.

Riley took the chance, she had just release one of her hands and elbowed Murdoch in his stomach. She freed from his grip and reached out for her sword, but he was faster and kicked the blade out of her reach, making it fall from the cliff. The girl felt like her whole body was being pulled by a mysterious force and everything around her went black.

Lilah couldn't believe it. Riley had just disappeared, leaving Murdoch cornered by Yuffie, Cloud and Vincent. Murdoch had nothing to lose, he wanted to make Lilah angry once again and he knew Vincent was her main weakness.

Vinaya was hiding behind a rock when she heard another shot. Everything was silence after that. She came out to see what had happened and saw Murdoch's body against the wall with Yuffie's weapon trough his body. He was finally dead.

* * *

Lilah was almost knocked out by Vincent's weight over her. She suddenly thought she was hurt, but she couldn't feel any pain at all. 

"Vincent… I'm sorry… I couldn't just stay and wait." She said, but there was no answer. "Vincent, are you ok?" She wrapped her arms around him to move him aside and she felt something warm and wet in his back. She looked at her hands only to find out they were stained by her lover's blood.

Yuffie, Cloud and Vinaya walked closer to them, they all seemed shocked by the view.

"Vincent, no! Vincent!!" Lilah cried. She made him lay next to her as she nervously checked on his wound.

* * *

His eyes finally met with hers. She was crying. He tried to tell her how sorry he was for letting that happen, but the words wouldn't come out. He felt like sleeping… So tired… At least Lilah was safe. Riley was surely safe too, back in her own time zone, but safe. 

"Look at me! Stay focused! Please…" He heard her say, but he couldn't answer. Yuffie was there too. She was trying to heal him with materia, but it was useless.

"Think about our baby… I love you… Don't leave me…"

All he could see then was bright green. Lilah's face was slowly fading away. No. It was not her face anymore.

"…Lucrecia?"

* * *

**A/N:** I almost cried!! 

The next chapter will be the last one.

Please review!


	15. When the Time Comes Last Chapter

**When The Time Comes- Last Chapter**

"Come on, Vince! I know you're tougher than this!" Yuffie said and her eyes started to fill with tears as she unsuccessfully tried to heal Vincent, over and over again. Vincent blinked a few times before his eyes stayed open and his gaze fixed in Lilah's eyes.

"No! No, Vincent, please!" Lilah cried. She shut her eyes tight as she felt her blood burning within her veins, Phoenix was as mad as she was and it wanted revenge. Her head started to hurt so bad that she was almost blinded by the pain.

"Cloud Strife here, we need assistance. Hurry! This is an emergency." Cloud said through his radio to the WRO officers at the trucks. Lilah looked at him and he realized what was happening with her. The green glow in her eyes was brighter than ever before.

"I can't hold it anymore… She's stronger." Lilah muttered. As it always happened before she turned into Phoenix, a dim red light surrounded her body. She was strongly holding Vincent's left hand in hers, so hard that she was hurting her own hand with his claw.

Vinaya ran to her side and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Don't let it happen, Lilah! Not now… Riley needs you. Do it for her, you have to be strong!" She said. Lilah desperately got a hold of Vinaya's hands, but it wasn't enough to calm her down this time.

"I… can't." Lilah whispered as she began to lose consciousness.

"Vinaya, do it! You have to extract Phoenix now! We can't wait any longer!" Cloud exclaimed.

"…But, what if it attacks?! Phoenix can kill us all." Vinaya said, scared.

"We don't have time… Phoenix will surely kill us all if you don't extract it anyway." Cloud said, as he tried now to help Yuffie to cure Vincent once again. The wound was still open, but at least the bleeding had stopped.

Vinaya closed her eyes and concentrated. She whipped all her fear away, took a deep breath and focused on banishing Phoenix from Lilah's body.

* * *

"Is that really you?" Vincent said, as he approached who seemed to be Lucrecia. She was looking beautiful and happy.

"It's dangerous to get stranded in the Lifestream, Vincent. I've been watching over you for so long… Waiting for this moment to come. I'm so glad you could make it."

"What do you mean? Am I… dead?" Vincent asked, surprised.

"We can finally be together." She smiled. Then, she took one of his hands and started to walk next to him.

Until then, the strange place where both of them were had been glowing green, but in that moment it changed to a view he recognized immediately. It was Shinra Manor's garden. The sun was shinning beautifully. They were both now standing under that tree where long ago they had shared a very especial moment.

"Do you remember this place, Vincent?" She asked, still walking around next to him.

"… Yes." He answered as he let her lead the way.

"We can stay like this forever! We can finally be together." Vincent looked around and the quietness of the place made him feel the same way he felt more than thirty years ago, when Lucrecia meant everything for him. She took both of his hands now and pulled him closer to her. "Don't you like it here?"

"It's so peaceful…"

"I know! Isn't it perfect for us? After all we've been through..."

"I think it is…" He said. The atmosphere was so charming that he forgot about everything. His senses seemed numbed.

"We'll be so happy here."

"But… I don't know if I should stay... I..." He felt like he was forgetting something important, but his mind refused to let him know what it was.

"This is no place for worries, Vincent. Just… Enjoy the moment." She whispered.

These last words echoed in his head. He had heard them before, but not from her. A memory rushed into his mind: It was late at night. He was standing in front of a beautiful young woman. Her hair was dark, she was wearing a black dress and her blue eyes were fixed on his. "…Enjoy the moment." She said, just before wrapping her arms around him. He remembered her sweet scent, her gentle touch. That night they had kissed for the first time. That memory triggered a series of images about her. In most of them she was smiling, in others she was just laying next to him. But in the last one she was crying, her hands stained with blood. "Don't leave me…" She said this time. Her voice sounded so heartbreaking that it moved him.

* * *

"She's so strong!" Vinaya said and got a strong hold of Lilah's forearms. "Come on, Lilah! I can't do it alone… I need you to help me!"

"I can't… What for?" She said.

"For Riley… And for yourself too! You want to be there for your daughter, right?" Vinaya could feel Phoenix struggling for staying in her host. Lilah suddenly looked at her. Her eyes were not glowing green anymore.

"Riley…" She said.

"Yes. Riley… Your baby."

"I'm… I'm not scared anymore! I am stronger." She shut her eyes. Vinaya's touch was burning her. Around her grip, her skin was becoming cracked and her eyes were not only pouring tears, but blood as well. Phoenix roared inside of her once again and a blinding red light burst out from her body, sending Vinaya against one on the rocky walls.

Time seemed to stop for her and her friends. The red light whirled in front of Lilah, until it took the shape of a huge multicolor flaming bird. Lilah was exhausted, but the peace she felt within her let her know her body was not longer harboring the guardian force. She got a hold of her swords and tried to lunge against Phoenix, but she fell on her knees as she stood up. Cloud tried to attack it too, but he couldn't. Phoenix seemed to be made of pure and ethereal fire.

"I'm sorry…" Phoenix talked directly to Lilah's mind. "I was carried away by human emotions."

"Sorry?! Because of you I lost what was most precious to me! Your words are not enough!" Lilah cried. Cloud and Yuffie looked at her confused. They couldn't hear what Phoenix was saying. Only Lilah could because of the strong bond they had.

"Friendship, sadness, trust, anger, lust… Love. Everything was new for me. Thank you for allowing me to feel like that. Humans are in deed exceptional creatures. You can go on by yourself; you have now the normal life you were longing for."

"I don't want it anymore! I don't care!" Lilah yelled and turned her face to Vincent. His blurry gaze seemed so distant now.

"I'll return to the planet now, but my power will stay with you. I'll come to you whenever you need me." Phoenix flew above them and disappeared in another fiery explosion, leaving a rain of red feathers and a red shiny materia behind.

* * *

"What's wrong, Vincent? I thought this is what you've always wanted." Lucrecia said, when she noticed his hesitating look.

"Lilah…" He whispered. Lucrecia let go of his hands and looked away. "You're right, Lucrecia. This was what I wanted. I really did. But that was until I…"

"I understand." She said and walked away from him. In that moment, a single red feather slowly fell in front of him. Vincent kneeled and picked it up, only to see it burn and disappear in his hands. "Tell me… Should I wait for you?"

"No. Heaven doesn't look like this for me anymore."

She nodded and smiled to him.

"Farewell, then, my dear Vincent." She said and faded away.

After that, everything turned green around him once again.

* * *

Lilah let go of her swords and almost dragged herself next to Vincent again. Although she was tired and weak she managed to hug him, pressed his face against her chest and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Cloud! Looks at this!" Yuffie exclaimed. She was still using her cure materia on Vincent.

"The wound seems closed… But I think is too late." Cloud told her as he checked on his friend injury. In that moment, some WRO soldiers arrived. Some of them helped Vinaya, who had been knocked out in the process of extracting Phoenix.

"I'm afraid there's nothing to be done, Lilah. Let go of him." Yuffie said, kneeling next to her. She was crying as well. Lilah didn't answer; she just hid her face and continued sobbing in silence. "We need to treat your wounds too, Lilah. I know is hard but..."

"You have no idea." Lilah muttered. She hadn't even realized she was hurt too. The only thing in her mind was Vincent. She took off his gauntlet to feel his hand one last time. He was so cold. Then, she intertwined her fingers with his and held his hand for a while. Lilah knew it was time to finally say goodbye. She kissed his cheek and let go of his hand. To her surprise, this time it was him who was strongly holding hers.

* * *

Riley looked around. She was exactly in the same place, in the Wastelands, but she was alone. She took off the rest of the rope that was around her wrists and the gag on her mouth. She realized she was now back at her own time zone and felt anxious for the results of her quest in the past. She hurried to Edge immediately, at first running and then, when she was too tired, just walking.

It took her about two hours to get to the area where her father's apartment was. She made haste to the third floor only to find the same big padlock she had opened the last time to steal her mother's sword. She sat in the staircase and started to cry. However, after a few minutes she just forgot what she was crying for. She stood up and went out of the building, like knowing her exact destination. She stopped in front of the Seventh Heaven. Inside they were playing music out loud. Sitting in the staircase outside the place there was a young woman who recognized her immediately.

"Riley! We've been looking for you! Where have you been all afternoon?" Marlene asked her as she stood up.

"I was… I… I don't know." Her memories were so confusing. She knew she had been away, but she couldn't remember where exactly.

"Come in! Cloud said he was taking all of you home in a few minutes. Maybe you can still have some of that cake Tifa made today... What happened to you? You're a mess!"

Riley shook off some of the dust on her clothes and entered the bar. Almost immediately a small boy ran to her and hugged her legs tight.

"You're back!" He said and looked at her, his crimson eyes filled with happiness.

"Hey, you!" She said and patted her little brother on his head.

"Mommy put away some cake for you, want it?"

"Sure!" She said, took the little boy's hand and walked to a table on the right side of the bar. Everything seemed so normal to her. Her trip to the past was now buried deep within her memory.

"Riley! I was worried sick! Where were you?" Lilah said as soon as she saw her. "You were with that boy again, right? Your father is going to put a bullet in his head if he sees you with him again."

"I know… I'll be careful." Riley said as her mother put a small plate with a piece of cake on it in front of her.

"By the way, Vincent should be here at any minute. He was taking the last boxes to our new house … I'm glad we're finally leaving that apartment. It was so small!"

"Yeah, me too! After four years I finally get to have a room on my own again!"

Lilah smiled at her daughter and watched her eat her dessert. "What?!" Riley asked when she realized Lilah was staring at her.

"… Thank you."

"For what?" Riley asked, confused.

"For everything."

Riley just smiled at her and finished eating, not knowing that all the joy around her had been possible only because of her.

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N:** Well... It's over. For now... I'm planning on writing a story about Reno and Vincent that probably will take place in this same universe. So keep an eye on my profile. I hope it'll be up soon.

I want to thank all of the people who read the story and reviewed, especially Live4Dance88, RenzokukenZ, Black-Valentine-1992, Bubblefox, Dantekrad, Leelee Montes, and many others (sorry if I don't mention all of you). Your words mean a world to me.

And don't forget to review!!


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